Exclusive: Two high school cross country runners and their families are suing a California school district over their “Save Girls Sports” T-shirts that resemble swastikas.
Plaintiffs Caitlin and Taylor are 9th and 11th graders at Martin Luther King High School who wore T-shirts with the messages “Save Girls' Sports” and “Common Sense. XX≠XY,” respectively. .
According to the complaint, the girls were placed on the varsity team after a transgender player who did not consistently participate in practice and did not meet the varsity's key eligibility requirements and Taylor was removed from the team. He was said to be wearing a shirt.
“My first reaction was really surprised, because I was like, why is this happening to me?” Taylor told Fox News Digital. “We have a transgender student on our team. Why am I being expelled when I worked so hard and attended every practice? This student only participated in a few practices. yeah.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Taylor and Caitlin, two cross country athletes at a high school in Riverside, California, sued the school district for violating their First Amendment rights and violating Title IX. (Courtesy of Caitlin and Taylor)
School officials claim the athletic department created a “hostile” environment, comparing these shirts to wearing swastikas in front of Jewish students and forcing students to remove or cover their shirts. It is said that he did.
“It was definitely difficult to hear because we're not trying to express hate in any way,” Caitlin told Fox News Digital. “We're just wearing shirts that represent what we believe in, trying to raise awareness of the situation.”
However, transgender athletes are allegedly allowed to wear “trans pride” bracelets, and the school allows other forms of social messaging on campus, including the LGBTQ pride flag, the complaint says. points out.
“The biologically transgender male athlete who replaced TS on the women's national team had recently transferred from another local high school after breaking the all-time cross country record for the women's cross country team,” the complaint states. It is said that
New House Republican proposal would ban transgender women from women's restrooms on Capitol Hill
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers says Assembly Bill 377 “ignores” a 2015 policy created by the Wisconsin High School Athletic Association (WIAA) to govern the eligibility of transgender high school athletes in the state. he claimed. (Alison Diener/AFP via Getty Images)
TS, who had been in the top seven on the girls' team since August 2024, was removed from the top seven on the girls' team to make room for an 11th grade transgender student in the top seven, leaving TS as runner-up. “relegated the junior varsity team to one of the most important competitions of the season for college recruiting,” the complaint states.
Julianne Fleischer, an attorney with the Girls Faith and Freedom Group, said the lawsuit alleges the girls' First and 14th Amendment rights and Title IX protections are violated. are.
Bethany Scott, the district's Title IX coordinator, notified Taylor's mother in October that a formal investigation into the complaint would be conducted, according to the complaint. Scott also said Taylor would not be at a disadvantage if she ran on the junior varsity team in an upcoming important cross country meet, but her mother said it would hurt her chances of being noticed by college scouts. he claimed. As a result of follow-up, by Nov. 1, the district reclassified the Title IX complaint as a confidential human resources matter, arguing that it did not meet the criteria for sex discrimination.
Mr Johnson refuses to say whether transgender MPs will be elected as male or female MPs, saying the House of Commons should treat everyone with 'respect'
Taylor and Caitlin are cross country runners at RUSD. (St. Petersburg)
Typically, cross country team selection takes into account multiple factors other than race time.The complaint alleges that Taylor's dedication and hard work were ignored and that the district failed to provide a clear explanation of the Title IX rationale. Fleischer complained.
“We are seeing more and more women and young girls speaking out and speaking out against policies that allow biological boys to participate and participate in these sports.” Fleischer told FOX News Digital. “And we're seeing lawsuits happening all over the country. We're hopeful that the next administration and Congress will also see real positive changes to Title IX that actually support and protect women's right to participate.” We're doing it so that we can compete safely and with each other in our sports. ”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Under the Biden-Harris administration, Title IX was amended to include gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination. In August, the Supreme Court ruled against one of Biden's requests. biological male allowed Ten states have state and local regulations in place to prevent it in women's bathrooms, locker rooms, and dormitories.
On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump said he would reverse Biden-Harris policies on gender treatment of minors and protect women in sports.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Riverside Unified School District and Martin Luther King High School for comment.
