A transgender girl’s participation on a high school girls’ volleyball team, despite a state law banning it, caused a stir and administrative shakeup. The student and her parents filed a lawsuit challenging the law in June, and her lawyers revealed in March that she was actively playing volleyball on the team, with her birth certificate changed from male to female. The judge ruled against the student but allowed her family to amend the complaint. The Broward Schools Superintendent learned of the situation on Nov. 20 and ordered a review for potential law violations, resulting in the suspension or reassignment of five Monarch officials. The state Department of Education expressed outrage, stating that allowing a transgender girl to play violates the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. However, the department was aware of the situation since March when it was defending a similar lawsuit. The student’s identity was kept confidential in the lawsuit, and it is unclear who in the Broward school district knew about her participation on the girls’ team. Scott Travis reported
The recent revelation that a transgender girl had been playing on the Monarch High girls’ volleyball team and the subsequent administrative shakeup has caused shock and controversy. However, it turns out that the student’s battle had been documented in public court papers for over two years. The 16-year-old athlete and her parents filed a federal lawsuit in June 2021 challenging a state law that prohibits transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports teams. In March, her lawyers disclosed in a court filing that despite the law, she was actively playing volleyball on a high school girls’ team and that her birth certificate had been changed from male to female.
A judge ruled against the student on November 6, but allowed her family to file an amended complaint. However, Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata only learned about the athlete’s participation in the team on November 20, which prompted him to instruct the district’s Special Investigative Unit to review if any laws were broken. As a result, Licata suspended or temporarily reassigned five Monarch officials, including Principal James Cecil. These actions led to two days of student walkouts. The state Department of Education expressed outrage and stated that the participation of a transgender girl on a girls’ team violates the state law called the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which was passed in 2021. The department demanded serious consequences for those responsible.
Interestingly, the department had been informed about a transgender student playing on a Broward girls’ volleyball team back in March as part of the lawsuit it was defending. The student is represented by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group based in Washington, D.C. The group’s lawyers argued in a court filing that the state’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit ignored the student’s current participation on a high school girls’ sports team in Florida and Supreme Court precedent that allows a plaintiff to challenge legislation before it is enforced.
It is unclear who in the Broward school district knew about the student’s participation on the girls’ team. The district was initially named in the lawsuit but was later dismissed from it. Licata, who assumed his position in July, claimed that he was unaware of the lawsuit until he received an anonymous complaint on November 20. The district will investigate whether anyone else in the district knew the student’s identity.
At the time of the March court filing, the student was a freshman who had completed one season on the Monarch volleyball team, which had a losing record that year. In her sophomore year, she played a second season on the team, which had a winning season and made it to the district semifinals. The question remains whether the team will have to forfeit any games in which the student participated. The Florida High School Athletics Association, which oversees high school sports in the state, could not be reached for comment.
The lawsuit stated that the student tried to keep her gender identity discreet, knowing that being outed could result in her removal from the team. The remedy for violations of the state law is civil litigation by individuals who believe they have been harmed, such as a female athlete who fails to make the cut due to the presence of a transgender girl on the team. The student’s lawyers argued that she should not have to live with the constant threat of her identity being revealed, especially considering the high-profile nature of the case. They also emphasized the risks to young people when their gender identity is involuntarily disclosed.
Furthermore, the court filing revealed that the state of Florida had allowed the gender on the student’s birth certificate to be changed. The student’s lawyers argued that she should be allowed to play on the girls’ team because she is a girl, and the state had already recognized her as such by issuing an amended birth certificate. The process of changing the gender on a birth certificate in Florida requires parental or guardian permission and does not specify requirements for supporting evidence.
It is worth noting that the Health Department rules allowing changes to birth certificates predate the recent wave of state laws that have been criticized as anti-transgender. The federal court documents do not specify when the student’s gender was changed on the birth certificate. However, in March, the parents successfully petitioned the Broward County Circuit Court to change their child’s legal name, which was approved in July. The student has identified as a girl since pre-school and exhibited behaviors associated with being a girl from an early age. She was diagnosed with gender dysphoria at age 7 and began hormone blockers at age 11..