Two female students in the Riverside (Calif.) Unified School District filed a lawsuit last week alleging that a transgender girl had displaced them from coveted spots on the cross-country team.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the suit was filed Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles on behalf of two girls and their parents by Advocates for Faith & Freedom, which describes itself as “a nonprofit legal ministry dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts.” It claims that the district’s policies and practices “unfairly restrict” the girls’ “freedom of expression and deny them fair and equal access to athletic opportunities."
The suit goes beyond the roster dispute to claim that when the girls protested what they perceived as the unfairness of the situation by wearing T-shirts that said “Save Girls' Sports,” school officials compared it to wearing a swastika in front of a Jewish student.
Riverside County officials could not be reached Saturday for comment, but in a statement published by the San Francisco Chronicle, district spokesperson Liz Pinney-Muglia said that “California state law prohibits discrimination of students based on gender, gender identity and gender expression, and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in physical education and athletics.” Her statement added: “The protections we provide to all students are not only aligned with the law but also with our core values, which include equity and well-being.”
According to Jessica Garrison, reporting for the Times, that sentiment did not satisfy crowds of people who showed up Thursday at the Riverside Unified School Board meeting to complain — with some vowing to return, with even more protesters, in coming weeks.
“I’m here today to put you on notice,” parent Jose Carillo told the board. “After today, there will be advocates here at every school board meeting … There’s going to be a lot more of us. It’s going to be standing-room only.”
He added that board members should heed the election results that returned Donald Trump to the White House. “This election woke people up,” he said.
School board members did not directly address the issue, which has become a hot topic this month in California, because it was not formally on the agenda.
Related: California HS Forfeits Girls' Volleyball Match Due to Transgender Player
The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs most high school sports in California, permits transgender athletes to join teams based on their gender identity, Garrison reported.
