An out trans athlete is taking legal action against SUNY Geneseo and the NCAA after she was allegedly barred from participating in track and field competitions at the school in accordance with her gender identity.
In March, Sadie Schreiner, who previously competed as a member of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) track and field team, sought to participate in the women’s 200-meter and 400-meter races at the Geneseo Early Invitational at SUNY Geneseo. On March 29, Schreiner contacted SUNY Geneseo’s head track and field coach, Christopher Popovici, and asked to sign up for the competition as an “unattached” athlete, meaning she would not represent any school, but Popvici denied her request, according to one of two related lawsuits filed in the case. According to the suit, about 15 others also signed up as unattached athletes.
“The understanding that I’ve been given by the NCAA is that due to the meet being under NCAA rules, even as an unattached athlete, you would need to compete in your birth gender category as a competitor under that set of rules,” Popovici wrote in a March 31 response to Schreiner, according to the lawsuit. “If I were to not follow the NCAA meet procedures, it opens the meet up or evet [sic] up to being invalidated for all the competitors. If you don’t want to compete in the other category, then I don’t have a solution other than to offer an exhibition event where you compete by yourself.”
The email exchange came more than a month after after President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring trans athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. On Feb. 6 — just one day after the order was signed — the NCAA implemented a policy barring trans women from participating in women’s sports.
Schreiner claims the school and the NCAA violated the New York State Human Rights Law by discriminating against her on the basis of gender identity. The lawsuit states that the event is a public accommodation under New York State law, which also protects gender identity and expression.
“Despite acknowledging that state law supersedes the NCAA Trans Ban, the NCAA continued to compel SUNY Geneseo to break state law and exclude Sadie Schreiner from competing in women’s events,” stated one of the two suits filed in the case. One of the suits focuses on SUNY Geneseo, while the other is about the NCAA.
On Sept. 24, Schreiner’s attorney, Susie Cirilli, commented on both legal actions in a written statement to Gay City News.
“As stated in the complaint, the track meet at issue was open to members of the public,” Cirilli told Gay City News in a written statement. “SUNY Geneseo violated New York state law when it excluded Sadie because she is a transgender woman.”
Regarding the NCAA-specific lawsuit, Cirilli added: “We stand by the allegations in the complaint. As stated in the pleading, the NCAA actively participated in aiding and abetting SUNY Geneseo in affecting the discrimination against Sadie.”
A spokesperson for SUNY Geneseo cited the NCAA’s policy when reached for comment on Sept. 24.
“SUNY Geneseo is a member institution of the NCAA, and we adhere to the NCAA’s policy,” the school said in a written statement. “We will not comment further due to pending litigation.”
An NCAA spokesperson defended the governing body’s policy.
“College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and while the NCAA does not comment on pending litigation, the Association and its members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships,” the NCAA told Gay City News. “The NCAA’s policy aligns with federal policy and permits all student-athletes to compete in the open category.”
The suit against the NCAA also lists Popovici as well as the school’s athletic director, Dani Drews, as defendants, alleging they “aided and abetted the unlawful actions of SUNY Geneseo, and the other Defendants in denying the participation of Plaintiff Sadie Schreiner in the women’s 200 meter and 400 meter race for which she properly registered and qualified.”
“Defendants acted with wanton and willful disregard for the rights of Sadie, who was foreseeably harmed by the act of aiding and abetting the unlawful actions of SUNY Geneseo by excluding her from the women’s 200 and 400 meter races because she is a transgender woman,” the suit notes.
Schreiner’s name made headlines earlier this year when news reports noted that she was no longer competing in events on RIT’s women’s track and field team following the NCAA’s policy change. An RIT spokesperson at the time told Fox News that the school was complying with the policy.
In July, Schreiner sued Princeton University after she allegedly faced discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression when she was removed from a list of participants at the Larry Ellis Invitational, according to The Daily Princetonian.
