The Justice Department issued a filing that supports a rule barring transgender athletes from competing in female sports.

In a Wednesday filing, Attorney General William Barr and other DOJ officials defended a federal civil rights lawsuit in Connecticut that would block transgender women from competing in female sports.

“Under CIAC’s interpretation of Title IX, however, schools may not account for the real physiological differences between men and women. Instead, schools must have certain biological males — namely, those who publicly identify as female — compete against biological females,” they argued against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which permits transgender athletes to compete in sporting events consistent with their personally observed gender identity.

“In so doing, CIAC deprives those women of the single-sex athletic competitions that are one of the marquee accomplishments of Title IX,” the Justice Department wrote.

The lawsuit was filed in February by the families of three female high school athletes who argue that allowing biologically male athletes to compete in female sports puts them at a competitive disadvantage.

“Mentally and physically, we know the outcome before the race even starts,” said Alanna Smith, a sophomore at Danbury High School and one of the lawsuit's plaintiffs. “That biological unfairness doesn’t go away because of what someone believes about gender identity. All girls deserve the chance to compete on a level playing field.”

The attorneys for the plaintiffs argue that permitting transgender athletes in female sports violates Title IX rules, which prevent discrimination in federally funded programs based on sex.

“Males will always have inherent physical advantages over comparably talented and trained girls — that’s the reason we have girls sports in the first place,” said Christina Holcomb, a lawyer from the nonprofit group Alliance Defending Freedom, on Wednesday. “A male’s belief about his gender doesn’t eliminate those advantages.”

As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in the United States, many sporting events have either been canceled or postponed. However, officials in charge of the female track season in Connecticut have not yet decided whether or not to cancel the spring track season.