DENVER — Officials from the Colorado High Schools Activities Association (CHSAA) have responded to a letter signed by nearly 80 school district administrators and school board members calling on the athletics organizing authority to come into compliance with a recent Trump administration order around biological boys competing in girls’ sports.
CHSAA’s bylaws currently allow for transgender students to participate in interscholastic activities, including sports, free “from unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
“CHSAA must immediately adopt rules and practices to ensure that boys are not permitted to compete as girls in girls’ sports,” the letter, dated april 14, reads in part. “This action is not only a matter of safety and fairness for our female athletes, but also aligns with recent federal directives that reinforce the protection of women’s sports under Title IX.”
However, CHSAA’s response was clear that was not going to happen any time soon and without explicit orders from state and federal authorities, hinting that the final say will likely come from the courts.
“School communities throughout Colorado hold a broad range of views on this matter,” said CHSAA Commissioner Michael Krueger in an email to the group’s attorney. “While your letter expresses one viewpoint, we also recognize that a diversity of equally passionate perspectives exists among our member schools and communities. We believe all school leaders should be afforded the respect to act in accordance with their perspective and values, while honoring the legal obligations that govern their institutions.”
Krueger said his organization was continuing to monitor varying federal policies and potential conflicts with laws passed in recent years under Gov. Jared Polis and a Democrat majority legislature.
“It is important to underscore that the ultimate resolution of these issues will not come from CHSAA, but rather from the highest levels of the State and Federal judiciary,” Krueger said. “As such, CHSAA’s role is to support its membership in remaining informed and thoughtful, while providing timely updates to our member schools as decisions are rendered by the courts along with State and Federal governmental officials.”
The letter came after a recent order on the matter from President Donald Trump.
“On February 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ Executive Order, explicitly directing the U.S. Department of Education to interpret Title IX as prohibiting the participation of males in female sports categories at schools receiving federal funding,” the letter to CHSAA continues. “The Order states it ‘is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,’ emphasizing the need to protect the integrity of women’s sports from policies that permit male participation.”
The letter continued that implications for CHSAA are “unmistakable, and that by maintaining policies that permit boys to compete as girls, CHSAA risks exposing Colorado schools to federal investigations,” among other things.
The attorney representing the group of school officials, Brad Miller, responded to CHSAA saying his clients found the associations’ response “to be a disappointment.”
“First, we firmly assert that CHSAA’s policies must comply with the Equal Protection Clause,” Miller said. “Your message, below, essentially rejects this fact and we believe that your non-answer is effectively a rebuke of federal law. Second, this position by CHSAA sets our schools up to lose federal funding as a result of your refusal to accept the federal administration’s position that Title IX prohibits schools from allowing boys to compete as girls in girls’ sports.”
