CA school stops disciplining students for shirts protesting trans athlete as movement spreads to more schools
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A California high school caved to a student uprising after hundreds of students showed up wearing T-shirts that read "Save Girls' Sports" to protest a trans athlete on the cross-country team, defying the school's latest dress code.
The school had previously put students in detention for wearing the shirts. But a source told Fox News Digital that the school did not dress-code students when they showed up wearing the shirts on Wednesday.
Parents of the school's students provided an update to California Family Council outreach director Sophia Lorey, claiming that administrators had a meeting Wednesday morning where faculty was instructed not to dress-code students, Lorey told Fox News Digital.
"Today students once again wore their ‘Save Girls Sports’ shirts," Lorey wrote to Fox News Digital. "According to the email sent out earlier this week from MLK HS Principal Leann Iacuone only the shirts that stated ‘XX=/XY’ should receive a dress code. Yet, as of now no student who is wearing that shirt today has received a dress code. I received information that there was a staff meeting today before school were the staff was told not to dress code."
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Lawsuit filed after transgender athlete joins girl's cross country team
Lorey added that students at neighboring schools have begun to wear the T-shirts as Martin Luther King's situation has garnered national attention. These schools include Arlington High School and Riverside Polytechnical High School, and Romona High School.
The students have worn the shirts every Wednesday, resulting in discipline by school administrators. But detention and dress code violations never shuttered their spirit.
Many students at the school have gone viral on social media by sharing details of the situation with photos and videos of them wearing the shirts. The student uprising came amid an ongoing lawsuit over two girls' cross-country runners who alleged their T-shirts were compared to swastikas by school administrators.
Another student athlete on the school's cross-country team, Rylee Morrow, brought more national attention to the situation when she gave an impassioned speech at a school board meeting in November in a clip that went viral due to her conveyed fears of having to share a locker room with a biological male.
Lorey commended the students for taking a stand and pushing the school district to withdraw its discipline on Wednesday.
"By wearing their ‘Save Girls Sports’ shirts, these young leaders are showing that they won’t back down in the face of pressure or opposition - even from their own administration. It’s not just about athletics—it’s about standing up for the integrity and rights of female athletes everywhere," Lorey wrote.
But anti-trans messaging isn't the only social media activity that has erupted from the school.
On Wednesday, a trans athlete at the school allegedly made a private post on Instagram lashing out against detractors who have questioned and opposed trans inclusion on the school's girls' cross-country team. Multiple sources, including Lorey, have confirmed the message was posted to the athlete's private Instagram story.
The athlete also allegedly expressed an intention to compete in girls' pole-vaulting and said that competing against male opponents resulted in disappointing finishes.
In a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital, the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) said it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must comply with California state law.
"It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law which requires that students be 'permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,'" the statement said.
"While these rules were not created by RUSD, the district is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. 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. 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."
The school said those who are upset by it should direct their anger to state and federal lawmakers.
"As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento," the statement said.
California has had laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women's sports since 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records."
Other high school and college students in California have expressed opposition to trans athletes in girls' sports.
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The girls' volleyball team at Stone Ridge Christian High School in Merced was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament in November, but it forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete. Those girls were commended at a ceremony held by women's athletic rights activist Riley Gaines at their own high school on Dec. 4.
Meanwhile, another California transgender high school volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont and Half Moon Bay High School.
At the college level, San Jose State's volleyball team was at the center of a national media firestorm this season over the presence of a transgender athlete on the team and a teammate being involved in multiple lawsuits over the issue. The team saw eight of its matches forfeited, including a conference tournament match, amid the controversy, which only brought more national attention to the team as it made it all the way to the Mountain West championship game.