Florida’s state athletic board fined a high school and placed it on probation Tuesday after a transgender student played on the girls’ volleyball team, a violation of a controversial law enacted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature.
The Florida High School Athletic Association fined Monarch High $16,500, ordered the principal and athletic director to attend a rules seminar and placed the suburban Fort Lauderdale school on probation for 11 months, meaning further violations could lead to increased punishment.
The association also banned the girl from participating in boys’ sports for 11 months.
The 2021 law, which supporters called “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” would ban transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for student-athletes who identified as female at birth.
The student, a 10th-grader who played in 33 games over the past two seasons, was cut from the team last month after the Broward County School District was tipped off by an anonymous whistleblower about his participation.
His removal caused hundreds of Monarch students to walk out of class two weeks ago in protest.
The Associated Press is not naming the student to protect his privacy.
King Volleyball / Instagram
“Thanks to the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida passed a law to protect girls’ sports and we will not tolerate any school violating this law,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz said in a statement. “We applaud the swift action taken by the Florida High School Athletic Association to ensure there are serious consequences for this illegal conduct.”
DeSantis’ office declined to comment.
The governor was in Iowa on Tuesday, campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
He has made the legislation and others like it a cornerstone of the campaign.
In 2021, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature enacted a law dubbed “The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” which prohibits transgender girls and women from playing on public school teams intended for female-identified student-athletes during born. AP
Jessica Norton, the girl’s mother and a Monarch information technician, was announced last week. He reissued a statement on Tuesday calling his daughter’s outing a “direct attempt to harm” the girl.
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights organization that has supported the family, said in a statement that Tuesday’s decision “does not change the fact that laws that prevent transgender girls from playing sports with their peers are unconstitutionally rooted in anti-racist bias.” -transgender, and the Association’s claims to ensure equal opportunities for student-athletes are hollow. “
“The reckless indifference to the well-being of our client and his family, and all transgender students across the State, will not go unnoticed,” wrote Jason Starr, the group’s litigation strategist.
According to court documents filed with a 2021 federal lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of the girl, she has identified as a girl since before elementary school and has used a girl’s name since second grade.
The 10th grader, who played in 33 games over the past two seasons, was cut from the team last month after the Broward County School District was tipped off by an anonymous whistleblower about his participation. NFHL network
At age 11 she began taking a testosterone blocker and at age 13 began taking estrogen to begin puberty as a girl.
Her gender was also changed on her birth certificate.
A judge dismissed the suit last month but gave the family until next month to amend it for reconsideration.
Monarch Principal James Cecil must attend compliance seminars over the next two summers and the school must host an on-campus seminar for other staff before July. James Cecil / Linkedin
Broward County Public Schools in a brief statement acknowledged acceptance of the association’s decision and said its own investigation is underway. The district has 10 days to appeal.
The association also decided that Monarch Principal James Cecil and Athletic Director Dione Hester must attend compliance seminars over the next two summers and that the school must host an on-campus seminar for other staff before July.
The school district recently temporarily reassigned Cecil, Hester, Norton and the assistant athletic director and suspended the volleyball coach pending the outcome of its investigation.
The student’s dismissal caused hundreds of Monarch students to walk out of class two weeks ago in protest. AP Monarch High School students participate in a walkout in support of transgender volleyball players on November 28, 2023. AP
After the group’s reassignment, Norton thanked the students and others who protested on their behalf.
“The outpouring of love and support from our community … has been inspiring, selfless and courageous,” Norton said in a statement last week. “Seeing our community’s resilience and outpouring of love is so heartwarming for our family — the light that carries us through this darkness.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
