Lawsuit filed after transgender athlete joins girl's cross country team

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A high school in Riverside is the latest to join the controversial debate involving transgender athletes and sports.

"Teachers, students, supervisors, everyone [is talking about it]," said Tory, a student.

Taylor, a girls’ cross-country runner at Martin Luther King High School, was co-captain of the varsity team. However, a transgender girl ran a faster time and reportedly took Taylor’s roster spot.

"It’s been hard honestly," said Taylor’s father, Ryan Starling. "You tear up. Having my daughter come to me, wrap my arms around me and say ‘Dad, I don’t understand’; it’s heartbreaking."

Taylor, and a teammate named Kaitlyn, filed a civil federal lawsuit against MLK High School and Riverside Unified School District.

"My initial reaction was like, I was really surprised, because it was like, ‘Why is this happening to me?’" Taylor said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. 

"There's a transgender student on the team. Why am I getting displaced when "I've worked so hard and gone to all of the practices, and this student has only attended a few of the practices?"

According to the lawsuit, the transgender athlete hadn’t consistently attended practices or met key varsity eligibility requirements. However, they still took the roster spot away from Taylor.

"The fact she was displaced by a biological male who did not meet those varsity requirements that’s not fair," said Julianne Fleischer, legal counsel with Advocates for Faith & Freedom. "It violates Title 9."

Taylor and a teammate then reportedly wore a t-shirt to practice that read, "Save Girls Sports" on the front.  On the back it said, "It’s common sense XX doesn’t equal XY."

"We weren’t allowed to wear the shirt at practice," Taylor told Fox News Digital.  "The student on our team wears bracelets that say, "Trans pride". Why is he allowed to wear that and why can’t we wear ours and express our opinion?"

According to the lawsuit, Taylor took her concerns to a school administrator. The administrator allegedly compared the shirt to wearing a swastika in front of Jewish people.

"It was definitely hard to hear because we're by no means trying to be hateful," Taylor’s friend Kaitlyn told Fox News Digital. "We're just wearing a shirt that expresses what we believe in trying to raise awareness to a situation."

This week, dozens of students wore the "Save Girls Sports" t-shirts to school.  According to parents, students were forced to cover up the words, or they’d face punishment.

"My daughter was one of them," said Ryan Starling. "She got put in the principal’s office for 2.5 hours and lost out on educational time."

While some people are showing their supporting, others are voicing their concerns.

"That’s transphobic," said Hayden Nelson, a teacher in Riverside County. "I think they should cover it up and shouldn’t wear it. Trans women are still women."

FOX 11 reached out to Riverside Unified School District for comment regarding these accusations, but so far hasn’t heard back.

According to Starling and Fleischer, they’re expecting a response to their civil federal lawsuit filed against MLK High School and the district within the next few weeks.

"All we’re asking for is equal rights," said Starling. "That’s all this whole lawsuit is about is applying equal rights for these girls."