Hawaii High School Athletic Association policy regarding transgender athletes challenged

There is a policy of inclusion in Hawaii high school sports regarding transgender athletes, but it is being formally challenged.

Cynthia Monteleone, a Lahainaluna track and field coach, sent a complaint to the Department of Education office of civil rights last week questioning the rules regarding transgender athletes.

Monteleone’s complaint stems from the participation in a recent Maui Interscholastic League girls track meet by a Kamehameha-Maui athlete who was born male and who now identifies as a female. Earlier this school year, in the fall, the athlete played for the Warriors’ girls volleyball team. One volleyball season before that, the athlete was a member of the school’s boys program.

Monteleone told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that she believes the HHSAA’s policy of transgender inclusion is a violation of Title IX, also known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender. In this case, Monteleone specifically believes that allowing athletes born male to participate in girls sports is discrimination against females.

The complaint comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by three high school athletes in Connecticut in mid-February. In that case, according to CNN, the students are saying it’s unfair for them to be asked to compete against “boys.”

An ACLU spokesperson, in that same article, contends that the transgender athletes are not boys, but, instead are a “subset” of girls.

According to Transequality.org, Hawaii is one of 17 states that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in public accommodations.

“This is not a personal issue,” Monteleone said Tuesday. “This is a policy issue. In a world track race (women’s masters 40-44) in Spain, in my secondary event, the 200 (meter dash), I raced against a male to female transgender athlete from Colombia. I actually won, so I don’t have an axe to grind, complaining because I lost a race. And this is not a right wing thing. I’m raising this complaint because women deserve fairness in athletics. Because one female beats one male doesn’t mean all the females are going to beat the males.

“With comparably gifted and trained athletes, you will always have male-sex athletes beating female-sex athletes.”

The Kamehameha-Maui student is not the only transgender athlete to have participated in Hawaii girls sports this year. In the fall, a Roosevelt student — born male who now identifies as female — participated on the Rough Riders’ girls volleyball team.

An email to Department of Education spokeswoman Lindsay Chambers requesting comment about Monteleone’s complaint was not immediately returned. Monteleone, however, said she was notified that her complaint has been received by the DOE and added on Thursday that she’s heard others have since followed up with similar complaints to the DOE.

(Lindsay Chambers of the DOE issued a statement after the publication of this story. The statement reads, “HIDOE guides all public schools to support transgender students and to provide a safe and nurturing environment in both academics and athletics. Students are allowed to participate in recreational gym class activities and in-school sports in accordance with their sincerely held gender identity.”)

During girls volleyball season, informal complaints about the transgender athlete on Maui surfaced on social media, with some parents and coaches objecting to the policy of transgender inclusion.

At the time and since, the Hawaii High School Athletic Association, which oversees state tournaments, has been clear about its policy, which, in part, states: “The HHSAA believes that athletic participation is valuable to students’ physical, intellectual, social, and character development and accordingly, we value inclusion. A student has the right to participate in athletics in a manner consistent with the sex listed on their school records. A student whose gender identity is different than the sex listed on the student’s registration records may participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”

The MIL, which is not governed by the HHSAA, does not have a transgender policy, but has said often that it goes by what the HHSAA recommends in this case.

According to head of school Scott Parker, Kamehameha-Maui has been supportive of the transgender athlete’s right to play for the girls teams.

“Ensuring that transgender students are supported in schools has been an emerging topic throughout the nation,” Parker wrote in a statement. “Kamehameha Schools affirms its support of transgender students in our learning community. It’s not something any of us has taken lightly. We are engaging with parents to respond to any concerns they may have.”

The athlete’s parents also gave a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “We love and support our daughter and want to see her succeed and thrive in all she aspires to achieve. Playing (sports) gives her an outlet to do just that. Her well-being is most important to us.”

Monteleone knows that this issue is not an easy one and added that she feels compassion for transgender athletes, including the Kamehameha-Maui student.

“I am all for inclusion,” she said. “But there are basic physical advantages that male athletes have over female athletes, and the current HHSAA policy is discriminatory against female athletes. And there is also evidence that male to female transgender athletes who have had hormone suppression or gender reassignment surgery (requirements for transgender athletes at various levels of sports, including high school athletics in some states) still have those advantages.”

According to TransAthlete.com, 10 state high school sports associations in the U.S. base eligibility on the gender of an athlete at birth unless the athlete has had gender reassignment surgery, and 18 states have policies inclusive to transgender athletes who have not had gender reassignment surgery (such as the Kamehameha-Maui student).

Monteleone also sent a copy of her complaint to the HHSAA and MIL, as well as to other state officials and lawmakers.