California volleyball player Emma Morquecho filed a federal lawsuit this week against Westcliff University, the California Pacific Conference and the NAIA after the private school pulled her athletic scholarship based entirely on her gender identity.
"By taking a stand, I’m not just fighting for myself. I’m speaking for every trans person who has been silenced, and I hope my voice empowers others in our community to know their stories and their rights matter,” Morquecho said, according to The Advocate. “Together, we can create a future where everyone is treated with dignity and respect."
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said it will back the lawsuit.
"The Latino community is often first to be targeted under practices of irrational discrimination, and this case falls within that pattern," said Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel for MALDEF. "Discrimination, based on stereotype and false assumption, against trans athletes must end, especially in California, where so many of those harmed will be members of the state’s largest racial/ethnic community."
Morquecho revealed to Westcliff in that she was transgender when she inquired to play volleyball at the school in 2022.
Coach Andrew Cole expressed interest in recruiting Morquecho to his squad, and in July 2023, she was offered almost $7,700 in the form of an athletic scholarship, an amount that did not fully cover academic year costs at the school, which exceeded $10,300.
“By not letting Emma Morquecho earn a scholarship playing volleyball, Westcliff University, Cal Pac, and the NAIA have bowed to a national movement to ban transgender people from every facet of public life," said Ernest Herrera, MALDEF Western Regional Counsel. "With this lawsuit, MALDEF seeks to restore an educational opportunity to a proud Latina student-athlete."
The lawsuit said the activity violates Morquecho's federal civil rights and California state law by discriminating based on her gender identity.
