(29 Sep 2022) ASSOCIATED PRESS New York - 29 September 2022 1.From left, Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christiana Kiefer and plaintiffs Alanna Smith, Chelsea Mitchell and Selina Soule walk outside federal court HEADLINE: Transgender athletes case back in court. ANNOTATION: Cisgender runners who are suing to prevent transgender athletes from competing in girls high school sports in Connecticut were in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.   2. Plaintiffs outside court 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Christiana Kiefer, Attorney for Plaintiffs: "So today we argued that my clients, Selena, Chelsea and Alanna, their records and achievements matter, and we ought to be able to prove our case in court. And so we're asking that the judges here allow the case to continue to move forward. 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Chelsea Mitchell, Athlete/Plaintiff: "This is about fairness for women in sports. This is solely about the right to compete in sports as a woman and to have the same opportunities that men have. So that's that's why I'm here. That's why I'm in this case. I just want fair opportunities." ++DIP TO WHITE TRANSITION++ 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Chelsea Mitchell, Athlete/Plaintiff: "It's important to me because in high school I raced against transgender athletes and I lost four state championships two All-New England awards and countless other opportunities to advance. And so I want the records rectified and to be recognized as the champion that I should have been." 6. 40 Foley Square courthouse exteriors ANNOTATION: Arguments in the lawsuit center around Title IX, the federal law that requires equal opportunities for women and girls in education, including sports. The American Civil Liberties Union is defending the case. 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Josh Block, American Civil Liberties Union Attorney: "You know, this case has been sort of Exhibit A that's been used by organizations to pass bans on transgender students participating in school activities across the country. It's held up as an example of the dangers that would happen if transgender girls were allowed to participate. And the reality is that that's based on a completely false premise, because there's no cisgender girls getting pushed off the victory podium. The plaintiffs in this case have been on the victory podium on multiple occasions." 8. Various of plaintiffs ANNOTATION: The court will release a decision sometime in the next several months whether or not to uphold the dismissal of the lawsuit. STORYLINE: Cisgender runners suing to prevent transgender athletes from competing in girls high school sports in Connecticut were in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday. Former Connecticut high school track and field runners Chelsea Mitchell, Alanna Smith and Selina Soule, appeared with their attorney Christiana Kiefer from the group called Alliance Defending Freedom. They are appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which oversees scholastic sports in the state, allows high school athletes to compete in sports according to their gender identity. In the suit, the cisgender athletes and their lawyers argued they were deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against two transgender sprinters, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood. All the student-athletes in the case have since graduated from high school. A panel of judges will release a decision sometime in the next several months on whether or not to uphold the dismissal of the lawsuit. =========================================================== Subscribe for more Breaking News: http://smarturl.it/AssociatedPress Website: https://apnews.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP Facebook: https://facebook.com/APNews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/320708204e4644cca819c303ad72d9c0