*Two female students and their parents filed a lawsuit this week claiming that a trans girl unfairly kicked them out of desired places in a cross-country group.
*At the school board meeting this week, parents vowed to protest again.
The Riverside Unified School District has become the latest battleground for the participation of transgender athletes in sports after two female students filed a lawsuit this week alleging that a trans girl kicked them out of coveted spots on the cross country team.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, also claims that when the girls protested what they saw as unfairness in the situation by wearing T-shirts that said “Save Girls’ Games,” school officials compared it to wearing a swastika. in front of a Jewish student.
The lawsuit alleges that the district’s policies and procedures “unreasonably limit” the girls’ “freedom of expression” and prevent them from fair and equal access to athletic opportunities. A case has been filed against two girls and their parents Advocates for Faith and Freedomwhich describes itself as a “non-profit legal service dedicated to protecting religious freedom in the courts.”
Riverside County officials could not be reached Saturday for comment, but in a statement published by the San Francisco Chronicledistrict spokeswoman Liz Pinney-Muglia said “California state law prohibits discrimination against students based on sex, gender identity and gender expression, and specifically prohibits sex discrimination in physical education and athletics.” His statement added: “The protections we provide to all students are not only in line with the law but also with our core values, which include equality and well-being.”
That idea didn’t satisfy the crowds who showed up Thursday at the Riverside Unified School Board meeting to complain — some vowing to return, with more protesters, in the coming weeks.
“I’m here today to inform you,” parent Jose Carillo told the board. “After today, there will be representatives here at every school board meeting … there will be more of us. It will be standing room only.”
He added that the board members must listen to the election results that returned Donald Trump to the White House. “This election woke people up,” he said.
School board members did not address the issue directly because it was not officially on the agenda.
The Riverside battle is one of many battles raging across California for transgender women in sports. The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs most high school sports in California, allows transgender athletes to join teams based on their gender identity. Many parents and students oppose that policy. Merced Christian High School, for example, this month forfeited a volleyball game instead of playing a private school in San Francisco that had a trans student on the team, according to the San Jose Mercury News. At the college level, a former player and assistant coach at San Jose State filed a lawsuit to try to prevent a transfer player from playing in the championship game.
The lawsuit against Riverside Unified details the conflict over trans athletes that erupted after coaches chose where runners would participate in a high-level meet earlier this fall.
One student, identified in court papers as TS, is an 11th grader who is so dedicated to running that she took summer school courses to free up her schedule in the fall to have more time to train. He was also the team captain, and had won the coveted spot at Mt. SAC Invitational, one of the most important high school cross country events in California.
Then, a trans girl, known in court documents as ML, moved to their school.
According to the lawsuit, ML did not train many hours with the team, and did not show up for all the required events. However, ML, who posted the fastest times, was awarded the top spot, and TS was eliminated from the “Team Sweepstakes” portion of the Mt. SAC. TS, the lawsuit said, thus “missed out on opportunities to compete at a high-level conference, and missed out on valuable opportunities for college recruiting and recognition.”
The other plaintiff in the case is on the junior varsity team, but as a top runner there, he may be in contention for the varsity if any of the varsity runners get sick or injured.
Both students suspect that the presence of this athlete in their team deprives them of opportunities.
They decided to protest at the meeting of Mt. SAC, according to the lawsuit. Along with more than a dozen other parents and grandparents, they appeared at the event wearing green t-shirts that read “Save Girls’ Games” on the front and back: “It’s Common Sense.” XX [does not equal] XY.”
The lawsuit states that the two students who wore the shirts are devout Christians, and that the shirts were “intended to express their religious views and support the protection of fair competition for girls based on natural sex.”
They also said “the messages on the shirts were not directed at any team player or student or individual.”
However, when they wore them to practice on November 1, the school’s athletic director told them that the shirts were unsightly and told them to take them off or cover them up.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the school district’s action to ban student speech on their T-shirts is unconstitutional. It also wants the court to rule that the school district failed to give girls equal treatment in sports, in violation of Title IX, and is seeking monetary damages.
The school district has not yet responded to the lawsuit regarding the filing.
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