The Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 school district may not need to continue with a civil lawsuit over how transgendered youths can take part in sports.
Re-1 is one of several school districts that filed suit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against state officials and the Colorado High School Activities Association in July 2025.
The others were Colorado Springs School District 11, Academy School District, 20, ER-BOCES, Monument Academy, James Irwin Charter Schools, and the Classical Academy.
State law currently lets students compete on teams that match their gender identities, but CHSAA does allow schools to implement their own bans, according to the Denver Post.
In the complaint, the plaintiffs said they “have adopted policies classifying sports teams by biological sex and maintaining separate locker rooms and accommodations. Boys are not allowed to play on girls’ sports teams and vice versa. Boys are not allowed in girls’ locker or hotel rooms and vice versa.
“These policies are necessary to: (1) prevent sex discrimination by ensuring fair athletic competition for female students; (2) protect all students’ Fourteenth Amendment privacy rights by maintaining separate changing facilities; and (3) shield the Plaintiffs from liability under federal equal protection principles and Title IX.”
But the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) and Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) bylaws place the Plaintiffs in an untenable position by prohibiting their policies, the complaint says.
The main concern is clearly whether transgender girls – those who were assigned male at birth – should be able to compete with girls who were born female.
“By excluding boys from girls’ sports,” the complaint says, “the Plaintiffs’ policies preserve athletic opportunities for female students. Allowing boys to compete alongside girls would reduce the opportunity for girls to receive awards, advance to the highest level of competition, or otherwise obtain the benefits of winning.”The complaint was dismissed in August of this year, but the plaintiffs appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
At their meeting Oct. 20, members of the Re-1 board considered whether to join in the appeal. They decided to table the decision until after the Nov. 3 election because a measure on Colorado’s ballot addressed the topic.
At press time, Proposition 134, which would ban transgender youth from K-12 and collegiate school sports teams that match their chosen gender identities, appeared to be passing with a margin of about 53 percent to 47 percent.
Re-1 board member Mike Lynch said at the Oct. 20 meeting that there would be no need to continue the lawsuit and spend more money on litigation if the proposition passed.
However, the proposition may prompt more litigation over whether it conflicts with the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. says
It also raises the question of how children’s sex can be verified without violating their privacy
Governor-elect Phil Weiser told the Denver Post that officials need to figure out what to do with the voters’ approval of Proposition 134.
““I don’t believe it would be acceptable to Colorado to have every student athlete to have to go through full-body examinations or other invasions of privacy,” Weiser said, according to the Post.
Voters in Arizona passed a similar proposition banning transgender youths from being in school restrooms or locker rooms that match their chosen gender identity.
The number of transgender athletes trying to compete in sports is fairly small. In a 2025 interview with KSJD, the then-superintendent of District Re-1, Tom Burris, said he knew of no former biological males trying to join girls’ sports in the district at the time.
