The Education Department says it is investigating a Washington state school district that recently moved to ban transgender students from participating on girls\u2019 sports teams after it also reprimanded a student-athlete who misgendered a transgender opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A civil rights complaint<\/a> filed Feb. 17 by the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) alleges the Tumwater School District, a district of about 6,000 students in Western Washington, violated Title IX and a student\u2019s First Amendment rights by refusing to remove a transgender player on an opposing team from a girls\u2019 junior varsity basketball game last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n Frances Staudt, a 15-year-old sophomore at Tumwater High School, had requested school officials either eject the student or forfeit the game, according to the complaint. When they refused, citing a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy that allows student-athletes to participate in line with their gender identity, Staudt removed herself from the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Staudt continued lobbying school officials from the bench to remove the student and repeatedly voiced \u201cher concerns about a boy playing in a game that was meant for girls,\u201d according to the complaint. Tumwater High School said Staudt had violated the district\u2019s policies against bullying and harassment by intentionally misgendering the student, which Staudt then argued violated her free speech rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI looked over, and I said, \u2018You are a man,\u2019 because that is my First Amendment right,\u201d Staudt told KOMO-TV<\/a> in Seattle about the game, which took place one day after President Trump signed an executive order<\/a> to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Tumwater School District\u2019s Board of Directors\u00a0voted 3-1 in favor of a resolution supporting an amendment<\/a> to WIAA policy that would prevent transgender girls from participating in girls\u2019 sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Education Department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights said Monday<\/a> it was investigating the school district \u201camid allegations that it continues to violate Title IX by allowing male athletes to compete in girls\u2019 interscholastic athletics.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The investigation is one of at least eight the department has launched into states, school districts and athletic associations since Trump\u2019s executive order on transgender athletes. The president publicly sparred<\/a> with Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) last month after the state\u2019s governing body for high school sports said it would not enforce the restrictions, citing a state anti-discrimination law preventing them from doing so.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a Feb. 20 YouTube video<\/a>, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said state protections against gender identity discrimination similarly prohibit Washington State schools from barring trans student-athletes from teams that match their gender identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur state laws make clear\u00a0that students get to identify and participate\u00a0in activities based on the gender in which they identify. We\u2019re going to uphold that law,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUntil Congress acts differently and changes the law, or\u00a0our state legislature changes the law,\u00a0we\u2019re going to follow the current law and the current civil\u00a0rights framework of this state and that\u2019s what it tells us to do, and I hope everyone\u00a0can respect that,\u201d Reykdal said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Senate is set to vote<\/a> this week on a bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports at schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an emailed statement, Laurie Wiedenmeyer, director of communications and community relations for the Tumwater School District, said the Education Department had notified the district of its investigation on Feb. 28.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur priority has always been to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environment for all students, families, and staff,\u201d Wiedenmeyer said. \u201cWhile we cannot discuss specific details due to confidentiality requirements, we take all concerns seriously and remain dedicated to continuous improvement in our schools.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate the patience of our community as we work through this, and we remain dedicated to transparency and continuous improvement. Our focus remains on supporting each of our students, staff, and families while fostering an educational environment that upholds the values of respect and opportunity for all,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a news release, Craig Trainor, the Education Department\u2019s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said Washington state\u2019s federal funding could be at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf Washington wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Department, it has to follow federal law,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The number of transgender students participating in school sports is unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n In September, the National Federation of State High School Associations, which does not report how many student-athletes are transgender, said\u00a0more than 8 million students<\/a>\u00a0competed in high school sports last year. Karissa Niehoff, the organization\u2019s CEO, told The Hill an openly trans athlete has never set a national record.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charlie Baker, president of the NCAA, which\u00a0barred transgender athletes<\/a>\u00a0from competing in women\u2019s college sports following Trump\u2019s executive order, told a Senate panel in December that he is aware of\u00a0fewer than 10<\/a>\u00a0transgender NCAA athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reykdal, in his YouTube video last month, said out of nearly 250,000 student-athletes in Washington State, \u201croughly 5 to 10 youth have identified themselves as transgender.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Education Department says it is investigating a Washington state school district that recently moved…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459\/revisions\/460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetoptenwebhosts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}