A Florida high school volleyball coach who was fired for allowing a transgender girl to play on the varsity women’s squad says he didn’t know she had transitioned.
Five Monarch High School employees — including principal James Cecil — have been suspended after a whistleblower told local officials that the Coconut Grove school allowed a biological male to compete as a female in violation of state law.
Former coach Alex Burgess told a local channel that he did not know the student’s birth gender and only found out after an investigation was launched late last month.
The sophomore — who started taking hormone blockers at age 11 — has been on the team for the past two years.
“I don’t know,” Burgess told the Miami Herald Monday.
“I think there are some people who already know, but I think anyone who comes to investigate is kind of pointing the finger at him.”
The student’s mother, Jessica Norton, condemned those who beat her son.
Meanwhile, the student’s mother revealed herself publicly on Monday as one of the five removed staff members.
“So much has been taken from my family this week – our privacy, our sense of safety and our right to self-determination,” Jessica Norton said in a statement released by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group.
“There’s a long history in this country of turning people out against their will — forced moving out, especially of children, is a direct attempt to harm the people coming out.”
In addition to Cecil, Burgess and Norton, assistant principal Kenneth May and athletic director Dione Hester were also suspended.
The volleyball season is canceled outright as the investigation continues.
Norton filed a lawsuit in 2021 on behalf of his son trying to allow him to compete on the girls’ team in high school even though he was born a boy.
Principal James Cecil was removed after a whistleblower told officials that a biological boy was competing as a girl. James Cecil / Linkedin
The case argued that a Florida law banning the practice was unconstitutional, but was ultimately struck down by a federal judge.
The suit states that she “presented” as a woman starting in preschool.
“As early as age three, — exhibited behavior traditionally associated with being a girl and would insist on wearing clothes and the color (pink) worn by girls,” the suit said. “She sees herself as a girl and communicates this to her parents clearly. At the age of five or six, her parents realized, based on behavior and statements —-, that their daughter was transgender.”
She soon developed a passion for soccer, and competed on girls’ teams throughout high school, according to the suit.
The girls volleyball team has had its season canceled as the investigation continues. Monarch Volleyball / Instagram
“At age 11, on the recommendation of his endocrinologist, he began hormone blocking to stop testosterone,” the case says. “This year, under medical supervision, she started receiving estrogen, and will continue to do so for the rest of her life. This will allow her to live as the girl/woman she is.”
Angry students staged a walkout at the school last week to protest the permission of their teachers and administrators, arguing that the teenager should be allowed to compete as a girl.
A Broward County School District source told The Post Tuesday that the teenager’s inclusion on the team was an undisputed violation of Florida law.
“There is no way around it,” the expert said. “It is difficult to understand how this happened. All I know is that it’s a mess right now. A lot of anger and a lot of confusion.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
