Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Riverside, California, dealt with a controversy involving a transgender athlete on the cross country team and a lawsuit by two girls on the team alleging that their “Save Women’s Sports” T-shirts had been compared to swastikas by school administrators.
The school has faced criticism locally from its own students and nationally from female athlete activists, including Riley Gaines and Jennifer Sey.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) said it allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must comply with California state law. The school said those upset by it should direct their anger at state and federal lawmakers.
“While these cases play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests must be focused on those in a position to influence these laws and policies, including officials in Washington, DC and Sacramento,” the statement said.
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The statement also cited language from the California Education Code, California Code of Regulations and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) bylaws, all of which outlined protections for transgender athletes in public schools.
“It is important to remember that RUSD is required to follow California law, which requires that students be ‘permitted to participate in single-sex school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, regardless of stated gender’. in the student’s records,” the statement said.
“Although these rules are not established by RUSD, the District is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. California state law prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of sex, gender identity, and gender expression and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex on physical area, education and athletics The protections we provide to all students are not only in line with the law, but also with our core values, including equality and well-being.”
The RUSD statement did not address the controversy surrounding the “Save Women’s Sports” T-shirts.
In California, state laws have been in place since 2014 to protect transgender athletes in women’s sports. AB 1266 went into effectGive California students at the scholastic and collegiate levels the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and to use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, regardless of the gender identified in the data of the student is listed. “
And Martin Luther King High School isn’t the first public institution to blame Democratic-written state laws for a controversial dispute with student-athletes over sharing spaces with transgender athletes.
The University of Nevada, Reno faced a controversy with its women’s volleyball players in October, when the athletes’ request to forfeit a match against a team featuring a transgender athlete was initially denied by the administration.
The players made their own public statements about their intention to forfeit the match and held a press conference where they accused the university of pressuring them to play. Team captain Sia Liilii claimed athletic department officials told players they “didn’t understand the science” of the confrontation with a transgender athlete.
The university issued a statement to Fox News Digital, explaining that it could not accommodate the player’s wishes to forfeit the game without violating Nevada state law. The state’s constitution was revised in 2022 when Nevada voted to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections.
Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, a North Las Vegas Democrat who co-sponsored the bill to get it on the ballot, said the law has helped transgender people maintain their identities.
“As a state university, a forfeiture for reasons related to gender identity or expression could itself constitute discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution,” the university statement said.
The university lost the match a day before it was scheduled because there were not enough players to compete.
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California and Nevada aren’t the only states that have faced controversy in the past year over girls in public schools who didn’t want to face a transgender opponent.
Even states with laws limiting transgender inclusion have seen incidents resulting from decisions by liberal judges. New Hampshire and Virginia, both states with such laws in place, were hit in 2024.
Judges Landya McCafferty of New Hampshire and M. Hannah Lauck of Virginia, both appointed during the Obama administration, each issued rulings this year that allowed biological males to play on high school football and tennis teams. McCafferty issued an order allowing two transgender athletes to compete in New Hampshire, while Lauck ruled that an 11-year-old transgender tennis player could compete against girls of the same age in Virginia.
The Biden administration issued a sweeping rule in April clarifying that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools includes discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related circumstances.” The government emphasized that the regulation does not cover eligibility for athletics. Several experts evidence presented told Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately bring more biological males into women’s sports.
RUSD’s message Friday gave the district an opportunity to remind the public that it is at the mercy of the Democratic establishment on this issue.
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Still, the students fought back.
California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey revealed that more than 150 students have worn the T-shirts to school since the controversy began and claimed that students who refused to adhere to the new dress code were forced to spend hours in the principal’s office to spend. Lorey says these students plan to continue doing this on a regular basis, despite their school’s new rule.
“I received those numbers from directly involved parents,” Lorey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “I subsequently received notice on social media that the students plan to continue doing this every Wednesday.”
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