Lawyers ask judge to recuse himself after he forbids trans athletes being described as 'male'

The place of transgender athletes in sporting events has become an increasingly contentious issue, with many arguing that the physiological differences between the sexes make for an uneven playing field.

Now, a lawyer has asked a judge to recuse himself after he forbid trans athletes from being described as "male".

The incident took place on Sunday when the attorneys of three cisgender women (Selina Soule, Alana Smith, and Chelsea Mitchell) were forbidden from describing the transgender athletes as "male" as they attempted to ban them from competing against the cisgender women.

This transgender woman wants compensation from a railway for being called sir:

The ADF filed suit in February against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC).

According to a transcript of the call obtained by National Review, Judge Robert Chatigny chastised the ADF attorneys for describing the athletes - who were assigned male at birth, but who now identify as female - as "males". 

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Chatigny said during the April 16 conference call: "What I’m saying is you must refer to them as 'transgender females' rather than as 'males.' Again, that's the more accurate terminology, and I think that it fully protects your client's legitimate interests."

"To refer to them as 'males,' period, is not accurate, certainly not as accurate, and I think it's needlessly provocative. I don’t think that you surrender any legitimate interest or position if you refer to them as transgender females.

That is what the case is about. This isn't a case involving males who have decided that they want to run in girls' events. This is a case about girls who say that transgender girls should not be allowed to run in girls' events."

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Roger Brooks, the lead attorney for ADF, however, said that the athletes' biological sex was relevant to the case, and as part of his duty to provide a vigorous defense of his clients' interests, he had to use the term "male".

Brooks said: "The entire focus of the case is the fact that the CIAC policy allows individuals who are physiologically, genetically male to compete in girls' athletics."

"Gender identity is not the point of this case. The point of this case is physiology of bodies driven by chromosomes and the documented athletic advantage that comes from a male body, male hormones, and male puberty in particular.

So, Your Honor, I do have a concern that I am not adequately representing my client and I'm not accurately representing their position in this case as it has to be argued before Your Honor and all the way up if I refer to these individuals as 'female,' because that's simply, when we're talking about physiology, that's not accurate."

Brooks said he wasn't sure if he could comply with the ruling and asked if he could refer to them as "transgender" rather than "transgender females", which the judge permitted.

The judge explained that he had no intention of bullying the ADF attorneys, but had to create a hard line when it came to the terminology that they are using out of "human decency."

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Now, the attorneys are arguing that  Chatigyny's order is "legally unprecedented", and disrupts the appearance of his impartiality in the case.

The case is centered around two transgender sprinters, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood. They have won 15 girls' indoor and outdoor championship events since 2017. However, prior to their participation, the titles were held by 10 different girls.

Soule told the Wall Street Journal: "It's just really frustrating and heartbreaking, because we all train extremely hard to shave off just fractions of a second off of our time. And these athletes can do half the amount of work that we do, and it doesn't matter.

"We have no chance of winning," she added.