The families of two teenage girls recently sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta over the state’s laws allowing transgender athletes to compete in girl’s sporting events. The lawsuit was filed by Ryan Starling, the father of Taylor Starling; the Slavin family, parents of Kaitlyn Slavin; and the organization Save Girls Sports.
The defendants in the suit are listed as Bonta and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, along with the Riverside Unified School District and administrators Leann Iacuone and Amanda Chann. The legal move challenges California law allowing transgender individuals to compete in female athletics, arguing it violates Title IX.
A spokesperson on behalf of Advocates for Faith & Freedom, the legal firm representing the families, explained to Fox News, “This law conflicts with federal Title IX protections, which were established to ensure fairness, safety, and equal opportunities for female students and athletes.” They added, “”AB 1266 undermines female athletes, forcing them to compete against biological males who hold undeniable physical advantages. This is not equality. This is an assault on fairness and safety.”
The lawsuit was initially filed in November after Taylor Starling reportedly lost her spot on the varsity cross-country team at Martin Luther King High School to a transgender athlete who had recently transferred to the school. Starling and Slavin wore t-shirts that read “Save Girls Sports” in protest and were subsequently reprimanded by school officials.
“Plaintiffs seek a federal ruling that AB 1266 violates Title IX as well as a decision holding the District accountable for violating their First Amendment rights. They demand injunctive relief to stop schools from forcing biological girls to compete with and against males, a judgment affirming sex-based protections in athletics and compensation for damages caused by these discriminatory policies,” Advocates for Faith & Freedom noted
Ryan Starling previously discussed his daughter losing her varsity position on the cross country team noting it took an emotional toll on the family, as the sport was a major part of Taylor’s life. Upon confronting the school on the issue, they were allegedly told by administrators that “transgenders have more rights than cisgenders.”
“It’s been told multiple times to not just Taylor, but her sister,” Ryan Starling said. “All the administrators at Martin Luther King have stated this comment, and the Title IX coordinator for the Riverside Unified School District has stated ‘that as a Cisgender girl, they do not have the same rights as a transgender girl’ to multiple girls, not just our daughters, but multiple girls on campus.”
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“If nothing changes here in the next couple of years, it absolutely should be part of the next election,” Dan Slavin said. “I want to see policies change. I keep saying the system is broken, and it’s doing more harm than good. And I want to see people understand that and admit that. Sometimes, we make mistakes, and it’s OK to admit that, but we need to make changes and get out of those mistakes we make.”
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