The U.S. Department of Education is investigating whether Connecticut’s allowance of two transgender athletes to participate in track has violated the civil rights of three of the girls they consistently beat to the finish line.

The Office of Civil Rights, under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has approved a request from a federal complaint filed in Boston to investigate whether Connecticut’s non-discrimination policy, which enables students to participate in sports based on their gender preference, is itself discriminatory against girls.

The announcement was made in a news release from Alliance Defending Freedom, the plaintiffs’ counsel.

An Education Department representative confirmed the investigation Thursday night, stating in an email, “OCR cannot provide additional information about the investigations, confirm details about the cases, or provide a timeline for the completion of the investigations.”

In June, ADF lawyers filed the request over alleged Title IX discrimination against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. The three plaintiffs — all high school girls — say they’ve lost out on medals and advancement opportunities in high school track for two years because two competitors who were born male have an unfair, biological advantage over them.

CIAA has maintained in multiple interviews their participation policy is determined by state law, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.

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