metal bats
title ix issues
GENERAL ISSUES
January 18, 2024 - La Jolla, CA - Parents Sue San Diego Unified Over Blackface Allegations Involving La Jolla Middle Schooler, reported by Jackie Crea, NBC 7 (San Diego). And, no, not everybody who wears black face paint is engaging in black face. The 13-year old white child who put black grease on his face in the stands at a football game: (a) did not look like Al Jolson or a parody of either Jolson or some cartoonish black person; and (b) likely did not wear the black grease on his face for reasons that had anything to do with race as his grease application doesn't look like the type of blackface applications that triggered historic concerns; and (c) has a viable explanation that he's imitating - albeit over-imitating - football and baseball players who apply eyeblack (and fortunately don't apply enough of it to trigger blackface concerns.
--------------------------------
January 17, 2024 - California Gov. Newsom Says He Won't Sign A Proposed Ban On Tackle Football For Kids Under 12, reported by Adam Beam, AP Wire Service.
-------------------------------------------
January 8, 2024 - California - Parents, Coaches Battling Proposed CA Law That Would Ban Tackle Football For Kids, reported by David Gonzalez, ABC TV7 (Los Angeles).
-------------------------------------
November 14, 2023 - Reidsville, GA - Tattnal County High School Football Coach Holds Baptism For Players, Fired From Coaching, reported by Kaley Fedko, WSAV TV (Savannah, GA).
-------------------------------------------
January 17, 2023 - Lyon (France) - Ex-Lyon Player Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir Wins Landmark Maternity Pay Case Against Club, ESPN.com.
-----------------------------------------
September 28, 2022 - Santa Clarita, CA - First Amendment Battle Averted at Saugus High School. See Saugus High School Dropping Tradition of Taking Field With 'Thin Blue Line' Flag, reported by Gina Silva, Fox TV 11 (Los Angeles).
------------------------
June 27, 2022 – Supreme Court Sides With Bremerton’s Praying Coach. Read the full opinion here, reported by Anika Varty, Seattle Times. This case has been a long slog. Joseph Kennedy's (the Bremerton coach who took a knee) first attempt at this case didn’t go so well. See High School Football Coach Fired Because He Prayed On Field. See Supreme Court Denies Bremerton Coach Kennedy’s Prayer Case, MyNorthwest.com, January 22, 2019. You can click here to see the Supreme Court’s 2019 denial of certiorari in this case (scroll to page 8 of the list of denied cases). Kennedy’s latest attempt, though, has succeeded and will create turmoil for schools dealing with this issue as this ruling will force public schools across the country to change how they approach praying coaches. For the full Supreme Court opinion without the Seattle Times story, click here. Would the Supreme Court back a Muslim coach? The question has been raised ... a test case is sure to come. See What If The Coach Praying On The Football Field Is Muslim? reported by Jonathan Zimmerman, The Charlotte Observer, June 30, 2022.
----------
December 4, 2018 - Springdale, AR - High School Censorship Issues At Play in Arkansas. See Springdale School District Allows School Newspaper To Repost Article, reported by Dave Perozek, Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
----------------------------------------
June 21, 2018 - New York, NY - NYC High School Sports Shut Out Black, Latino Kids: Lawsuit, reported by Noah Manskar, New York City Patch.
---------------------------------------
June 21, 2018 - Red Creek, NY - Red Creek Parent Is The Latest To Find Out That Courts Do Not Exist To Act As Review Boards For Officials' Calls. See Judge tosses Red Creek parent's lawsuit over basketball player's ejection, reported by Jeff DiVeronica, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. DiVeronica quotes New York Supreme Court Judge Scott Odorisi, who wrote, "Courts are valuable tools to resolve disputes," Odorisi wrote in his decision, which was released Thursday, "but they should not be transformed into a Replay Command Center or GameDay Central for every school, or even recreational, sporting squabble." Despite Odorisi's wise counsel, it's only a matter of time before some other parent sues to reverse an official's call.
---------------------------------
May 25, 2018 - Salt Lake City, UT - Utah cheerleader dismissed over profane video says school violated free speech, reported by Dennis Romboy, Deseret News.
----------------------------------
December 30, 2017 - San Pasqual, CA - California High School Football Player Can't Be Forced To Stand For National Anthem, Court Rules, reported by Adam Elmahrek, Los Angeles Times, December 30, 2017. The big question in this case is why the San Pasqual Valley Unified School District's attorneys thought they could win this case. It's pretty well established that the first amendment bars public schools from forcing students to stand for the anthem. There are probably some internal politics behind this. See the national coverage of this story at Court Rules In Favor of High School Student Banned From Kneeling During National Anthem, reported by Jason Owens, yahoosports prep rally, December 30, 2017.
------------------------------
September 28, 2017 - Bossier, LA - 34 Schools In Louisiana Told By District That Athletes Should Stand For Anthem: It's a Lawsuit Waiting To Happen, reported by Sebastian Murdock, Huffington Post. It is indeed a lawsuit waiting to happen. Public schools cannot advocate for or against anthem protests. We must remember that public schools are government entities. A private school, on the other hand, is not a government entity and will have a much greater chance of cracking down on a protester. But a private school can still lose a lawsuit. The lawsuit wouldn't be a First Amendment suit. But, most private schools publish conduct codes and the litigation would focus on whether the code was written sufficiently well to capture an anthem protest. The best guidance on high school anthem protests will probably come from law on students who have objected to standing for or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge is simply recited far more often than the National Anthem is sung, and so has a more developed body of law. See The Vanderbilt First Amendment Center for some examples of articles on the Pledge and the law.
------------------------------------
September 24, 2017 - Students Have A Right To Protest During National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance, reported by Evie Blad, Education Week.
------------------------
September 17, 2017 - New York, NY - Boy Killed By Falling Soccer Goal Post In Midtown, Police Say, reported by Alison Fox, AM New York.
----------------------------
August 14, 2017 - San Gabriel, CA - Strange but true. A former high school baseball is suing his former school because the coach benched him. These cases are generally dismissed on the ground that sports participation is not a right but a mere privilege. But, this one has a twist. The student is alleging that the benching and the coach's demeanor are tantamount to bullying. This still sounds like it's on shaky legal ground, but it's not far from bullying to charges of racial or some other type of discrimination; so Robbie Lopez, the student bringing the suit, may fool us all and get past a motion to dismiss if he can just slip some charges of discrimination into his case. We will see. See Former Los Altos Baseball Player Sues Coach After Being Benched, Claims Bullying, reported by Hayley Munguia, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
-----------------------------------
November 23, 2016 - Chicago, IL - Chicago's Fenwick High School Is The Latest School To Find Out That Courts Do Not Exist To Act As Review Boards for Officials' Missed Calls. See Judge Rejects Bid By Fenwick To Overturn Disputed Playoff Football Loss, reported by Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune. Not to be outdone, the Chicago Sun Times chimed in with an editorial. See Since When Did Judges Become Football Referees?, Sun Times Editorial Board, November 22, 2016; also see Judge Rules Against Fenwick High School Over Football Referee Mistake, WGN-TV, Associated Press, Nancy Loo and Mike Lowe, November 23, 2016. This is not the first time we've seen courts asked to reverse errors on the field - and courts generally refuse to become "super-referees." We just saw this two years ago in Oklahoma. See Judge Rules In Oklahoma High School Football Case, reported by Shelby (Tennessee) Metro Sports Blog, December 12, 2014. Judge Bernard Jones, who heard the Oklahoma case, put it best: "This slippery slope of solving athletic contests in court instead of on campus will inevitably usher in a new era of robed referees and meritless litigation due to disagreement with or disdain for decisions of gaming officials.” That about says it all.
------------------------------------------------
NIL AND EMPLOYMENT ISSUES
October 22, 2024 - Hurricane, UT - What's the going rate for an elite college basketball player? See Report: A.J. Dybantsa, No. 1 CBB Recruit, Could Get $4.5 M NIL Contract Offer at BYU, reported by Paul Kasabian, Bleacher Report.
------------------------------
October 8, 2024 - New NIL Company Raises Red Flags For Consumer Finance Experts, reported by Dan Murphy, ESPN.com
---------------------------------------
September 27, 2024 - Indianapolis, IN - NCAA's Charlie Baker Urges Congress To Act Amid NIL Dysfunction, AP Wire Story on ESPN.com.
-----------------------------------
September 25, 2024 - Las Vegas, NV - UNLV QB Quits Team: Alleges Unfulfilled NIL Promises. Is regulation needed? See QB Matthew Sluka Leaving UNLV: What We Know and What's Next, reported by Max Olson, ESPN.com.
-------------------------------
July 11, 2024 - U.S. Appeals Court Ruling Leaves Open Possibility of College Athletes Being Considered Employees, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today.
-----------------------------------
May 22, 2024 - Proposed Settlement in NCAA's NIL Antitrust case may make it hard for smaller schools to function. See With $2.8B Settlement Looming, NCAA's Smaller Conferences Feeling Squeezed: What Other Options Are There?, reported by Ross Dellinger, Yahoo Sports.
-------------------------------------------
February 28, 2024 - Tampa, FL - FHSAA Proposal Would Allow High School Athletes To Sign NIL Deals, Make Money While Playing High School Sports, reported by Ariel Plascencia, Fox-13 TV (Tampa).
---------------------------------
February 5, 2024 - Hanover, NH - NLRB Official Rules Dartmouth Men's Basketball Team Are Employees, Orders Union Vote, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today.
----------------------------------
February 4, 2024 - Charlotte, NC - NC Private School Leaders Approve Policy Allowing Athletes To Profit Off NIL, WBTV (Charlotte).
---------------------------------
December 17, 2023 - Los Angeles - "A Losing Hand:" Legal Experts Examine USC's Push Against Players Being Classified As Employees, reported by Luca Evans, Orange County Register.
--------------------------------
December 1, 2023 - Eugene, OR - Oregon Title IX Lawsuit Puts NIL Collectives in Crosshairs, reported by Daniel Libit, Sportico.
---------------------------------------------
November 6, 2023 - California - NIL Lawsuit Granted Class Action Certification. $1.3 Billion at Stake in In re College Athlete NIL Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 4:20-cv-03919-CW. See US Judge Says NCAA Athletes Can Pursue Class Actions Seeking Over $1.3 bln, reported by Mike Scarcella, Reuters.
-------------------------------
October 18, 2023 - Washington, D.C. - Sen. Maria Cantwell Says She Wants Any NIL Legislation To Also Address NCAA Athletes' Rights, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today.
-------------------------------------
October 17, 2023 - Washington, D.C. - NIL Hearing Shows Desire To Pass Bill To Help NCAA. How It Gets There Is Uncertain, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today.
---------------------------------------------
October 17, 2023 - Washington, D.C. - NCAA Focused On Employment Status of Athletes At Senate Hearing, AP Wire Service Story on ESPN.com.
----------------------------------------
September 22, 2023 - Oakland, CA - Broadcast Revenue Sharing NIL Case Moves Forward: Plaintiffs in In Re College Athlete NIL Litigation, Are Granted Class Action Certification. See Athletes In NCAA NIL Case Gain Class Certification For Part of Lawsuit, reported by Michael McCann, Sportico.com; and see NCAA, Conferences Could Be Forced Into Major NIL Change As Lawsuit Granted Class-Action Status, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today.
-----------------------------------
September 14, 2023 - Hanover, NH - Dartmouth Men's Team Files Union Paperwork, reported by Lorenzo Reyes, USA Today.
--------------------------------
September 14, 2023 - Tuscaloosa, AL - Alabama High School Forfeits Football Game Over Gift Cards To Players: It Is 'School's Responsibility.', reported by Ben Thomas Al.com
-----------------------------
July 26, 2023 - We already have two NIL bills in Congress. Now, here comes a third one from Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Lori Trahan. See New Congressional Bill Aimed At Confronting NIL Challenges Facing NCAA Athletes Released, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today.
-----------------------------------------
July 20, 2023 - Three U.S. Senators Unveil Discussion Draft of Bill Addressing NIL Issues for NCAA Athletes, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today (reporting on a bipartisan discussion draft from Sens. Booker, Blumenthal, and Moran. Would that life be so simple, though. On July 25, 2023, Sens. Tuberville and Manchin announced that they have introduced their own NIL bill. Right now, NIL is governed by a hodgepodge of State regulations. 50 State, 50 rules - or at least 50 rulemakers. Nothing's coherent, and it looks like a long slog through the Senate and House before the federal government gets behind one consistent set of NIL rules. Oh, and you thought the NCAA regulated college sports? Think again. See Tommy Tuberville, Joe Manchin Introduce Legislation to Address NIL in College Athletics, reported by Steve Berkowitz, USA Today, July 25, 2023.
------------------------------------------
June 27, 2023 - NCAA Sets Up Confrontation With State Lawmakers Concerning NIL Guidelines, reported by Steve Berkowitz and Paul Myerberg, USA Today.
---------------------------
June 22, 2023 - Michigan - Michigan Lawmakers Mull High School NIL Bill, reported by Andy Berg, Athletic Business.
----------------------
June 12, 2023 - An unintended consequence of NILs: rising medical insurance costs. See The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Letter, Protecting Athletes and Team Physicians Who Care For Them Amid Rising Complexity and Liability Risk; and see Medical Groups: Liability May Limit Care For Top Athletes, reported by Stephania Bell, ESPN.
---------------
December 17, 2020 - Battle over paying college athletes goes from a fight over name and likeness rights to a battle over profit sharing. See Inside the Landmark College Athletes Bill of Rights Being Introduced in Congress, reported by Ross Delllenger, SI.com.
-------------------------------
RELIGIOUS HEADWEAR, GAY ATHLETE, AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES ARE ON THIS PAGE
Race and Headwear
September 12, 2023 - Boston, MA - Attorneys Call on High School Sports Agency To End Discrimination Against Black Athletes' Hairstyles, reported by Ivy Scott, Boston Globe.
--------------------------------
September 7, 2022 - A win for Alice Dearing and her Soul Cap. See Olympic Swimmer Wins Fight To Reverse Ban On Cap Made For Black Hair, reported by Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post.
---------------------------------------
Religious Headwear Issues
March 3, 2017 - Gaithersburg, MD - Hijab Rule Keeps High School Junior From Playing In Regional Title Basketball Game, WCVB, March 16, 2017. National Federation of High School basketball rules bar players from having headwear.
This is a safety rule. However, there is a religious exception under which a state association can approve the headwear. Clearly, the administrative solution for this rule is for a school to request a religious exemption from the State at which point most States would send a letter letting everybody know that the student at issue could play. This is actually a rational solution ... if the schools would make their requests and trigger the States to send release letters. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way.
Too often, schools don't ask for an exemption letter from this safety rule. Then, officials let the student play even though the student doesn't have the exemption letter. Finally, some official enforces the rule and then there's a negative story at which point everybody realizes they have a problem.
Clearly, the groups to blame when this occurs are the school that didn't file the request and the officials who let the child play all year, leaving it to some poor official who is officiating that big game at the end of the year to enforce the rule and take the heat. And, that's exactly what happened here. The school said they didn't know about the rule. This is probably true. Of course, one would think that people in Maryland would know about this rule since Maryland had a high profile religious uniform case in 2008 where a Muslim girl was barred from a track meet due to her leggings. See When the Rules Run Up Against Faith, reported by Alan Goldenbach, Washington Post, January 16, 2008.
Ultimately, people blame the officials. That's exactly what happened here where an NFHS spokesman is quoted as saying, "Unfortunately, the officials made a strict interpretation of the ... playing rules for basketball instead of the spirit of the rules..." Well, the officials didn't make a strict interpretation. There's no room for interpretation. The rule says, "Head decorations, and headwear, are prohibited." The only exception is where the athlete has the required state association exemption letter. In other words, what's really happening is that everybody ignores the rule until some official enforces it and then everybody goes nuts and then forgets about the matter until the next Muslim or Jew comes along and gets in trouble for wearing a hijab, leggings or a yarmulke. In all fairness, the NFHS spokesman is really noting the futility of having a well written rule that doesn't work because people don't take iit seriously until ... all of a sudden .... someone does.
Instead of blaming the one official who enforces the rule, it's time to fix the rule. It's an easy fix. Simply write in an exemption for yarmulkes and hijabs. Presume them as safe unless they fall off. And, then, have a review panel for those religions that we don't know about because members of their faith are on teams that never advance very far.
----------------------------------------------------------
July 2015 - FIBA Head Covering Rule Is Where Safety and Bureaucracy Trump Religion. FIFA, which governs international soccer, and FIBA, which governs international basketball, have had head covering rules for years. It's not uncommon. The rules exist in high school and college sports, too. The head covering rules are intended to ensure that loose headbands and scarves and other headwear don't flop around and get in someone's eye or end up on the floor where someone can trip or slip on them. Unfortunately, religious headwear gets tied up in these rules.
At some levels, such as high school, you can ask a Commissioner to write you a waiver. However, invariably organizations don't ask for a waiver and some player ends up barred from play. Worse, there's no history of religious headwear slipping off and causing injury. Yarmulkes and hijabs just tend to stay on.
FIFA exempted religious headwear a number of years ago. FIBA didn't. However, FIBA did allow hijabs in a trial run effective 2014. See FIBA: Players Can Wear Religious Head Coverings, AP Wire Service Story in USA Today, September 16, 2014. FIBA’s trial run only applied at the national level – and a country had to apply for an exemption. This led to some athletes still being banned during the trial run. See Headgear Ban Derails Hoops Dream by Zolan V Kanno-Youngs, USA Today, July 6, 2015 page 2-C.
I’ve said it before, and have to say it again. Sports rules shouldn't discriminate against religions. A religious item merits an exemption to a sports uniform rule if it is legitimate religious garb that does not interfere with the other teams’ safety. For more on this issue, see my 2012 article, Religious Headwear In Sports: Is Permanent Rules Exemption The Answer?
--------------------------------------
April 24, 2012 - Jewish And Muslim Athletes Have Same Interest On Sports Headwear Issue:
About once a year, we pick up the paper and read about a Jewish athlete who was told he couldn’t play a ball game in his yarmulke or a Muslim athlete who couldn’t wear a hijab or a uniform that covered her legs. Usually, the official who makes the call is vilified in the local press. The local press then finds a sports governing body representative who points out that the official got it absolutely right. This leads the local press to vilify the sports governing body for being heartless bureaucrats who let rules get in the way of good old-fashioned common sense.
There are two groups that can save us from this recurring drama: the officials who didn’t make the call, and the coaches who didn't know the rules.
The officials who didn't make the call allow the athletes to play in violation of the rules. Eventually, an official does their job and makes the call. The official who makes the call gets the blame, but it's really the officials who didn't make the call who are fault. If they made the call in the first week of an athlete's season, the issue would be addressed and by the time the athlete competed on a larger stage, the issue would never arise.
The big media incidents usually occur in youth or high school events that are big enough to generate coverage. Those are mid-year and end of year events, and they're generally officiated formally – by the book, if you will. In track and field (which had a Muslim legging controversy a few years ago), early season dual meets may be officiated very informally, sometimes not even by certified officials. In our mass spectator sports such as basketball, officials may cut athletes some slack in early season games. The problem, of course, is that all the early season officials who are nice, or cut slack, set both the athlete and the more formal official up for a fall. It is these early season officials who are at fault. If they either enforced the rule or let the kid play while reporting the violation to the sports governing body, remedies could be put in place before a public relations problem occurs.
Coaches don’t escape blame either. They all have access to a rulebook, and they all have a duty to read it. If you’re a basketball coach, it doesn’t take too long to read that head wraps are illegal, but one can obtain a religious exemption letter from a State Association for items that are not hard, dangerous or likely to come off. In other words, a basketball coach could protect a Jewish player who wears a yarmulke, or a Muslim girl who wears a hijab by simply calling the head of their high school state association. Youth league coaches could call the tournament director or league administrator. This isn’t hard.
Sports governing bodies could help here, also. Some items commonly recur. Yarmulkes and hijabs are probably so common that a rules interpretation could be issued granting them a presumption of legality. That would put a stop to some of what Sara Yasin calls, “sports’ unnecessary drama” on her muslim women in sports blog.
It should be noted, though, that sometimes sports governing bodies go out of their way to hurt. Most sports bodies will issue an exemption letter once they’re aware of an athlete with a religious exemption. As long as the religious garb isn’t hard, made of metal or flapping around and interfering with other athletes, the exemption letter is standard protocol. However, FIFA spent years cracking down on hijabs. FIFA even disqualified the Iranian Soccer team from the 2012 London Olympics for wearing hijabs. Finally, in the face of complaints, FIFA backed down and ruled that muslim women could wear hijabs. This led to protests from French women’s groups, who claim that the hijab discriminates against women, but FIFA did the right thing. It is not the role of a sports governing body to try to determine whether a religion’s clothing regulations are discriminatory. The sports governing body can only address whether the hijab is (A) legitimate religious garb; and (B) does not interfere with other teams’ safety. If it meets these two tests, it merits an exemption.
While it is clear that officials and coaches could resolve religious headwear media dustups by taking care of the issue early in a sports season, it is equally true that the sports governing bodies could take that burden off of them. There are certain items that are worn with sufficient frequency to merit a permanent exemption. Hijabs and yarmulkes both fall in that category. Nobody in their right mind is going to deny a youth athlete the privilege of wearing a hijab or a yarmulke in an athletic contest unless the item is constantly coming loose or is affixed to the head by a hard metal item, and if that's the case then governing bodies should simply say so in their rulebooks or casebooks. It would be a stand for common sense, and it's an issue where Jewish and Muslim athletes share a common interest. Heck, this issue might be the first step toward that ever-elusive goal: world peace.
-----------
Gay Athletes
August 12, 2019 - Salt Lake City, UT - Real Salt Lake Fires Coach Mike Petke Over Homophobic Tirade Against Referees, reported by Alex Vejar, Salt Lake Tribune.
------------------------------------
June 20, 2019 - Columbus, OH - Gay Teen Sues Ohio School Officials; Alleges Harassment, reported by Kelli Weir, Canton Repository, Gatehouse Media Ohio, Columbus Dispatch.
---------------------------------
October 30, 2018 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Morro Bay Football Coach Fired Over LGBTQ Comments, reported by Nick Wilson and Kaytlyn Leslie, San Luis Obispo Tribune. See Also, High School Coach Fired But Still Teaching After Anti-Gay Comment, reported by Brandon Voss, Newownext.com, November 4, 2018.
----------------------------
Transgender Issues
See Transathlete.com for comprehensive information on transgender athletic participation and access issues. You can see transathlete.com's list of transgender policies to see how all 51 State high school athletic associations would have handled the Texas wrestler or any other transgender athlete.
---------------------------------------------
October 17, 2024 - San Jose, CA - San Jose State Is Embroiled In A Transgender Volleyball Player Controversy With No End In Sight As Opponents Choose To Forfeit To Avoid SJSU's Transgender Player. See Another Women's Volleyball Team Forfeits To San Jose State, reported by Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Education.
------------------------------
June 17, 2024 - Lake Oswego Coach Says District Ousted Him After Pushed Change In Transgender Law, reported by Barry Manigold, KATU TV 2, Portland, OR. This story gives us a First Amendment issue as a public school district allegedly terminated a coach for expressing his opinion to elected officials. It also gives us another transgender participation policy story as the coach was arguing for an open division for transgender athletes. Of course, the school district will contend that the termination had nothing to do with a policy disagreement, but was simply the district reinforcing the policy neutral rule that only the district's lobbyist can present to the legislature. I have a feeling that the coach will win on the First Amendment if he sues, but will have little ability to change state transgender policy. We shall see.
---------------------------------
May 19, 2024 - Eugene, OR - Transgender High School Runner In Oregon Hears Boos From Crowd After Winning Girls 200-Meter State Title, reported by Ryan Morik, Fox News. And I note that however one feels about transgender girls winning girls races, there is something unsettling about a stadium booing a high school kid. The boos do work, though. There are a number of instances where negative crowd reactions have caused transgender high school athletes to simply not show up for some events. Sometimes unseemly crowd behavior is highly effective, but not always. After all, it didn't stop the Oregon runner in this instance.
------------------------------------
April 19, 2024 - Harrison County, West Virginia - Middle School Athletes Step Out Of Shot Put Against Transgender Girl Who Just Won Court Case, reported by Brad McIlhenny, West Virginia Metro News.
----------------------------
April 16, 2024 - Fourth Circuit Rejects West Virginia Law Barring Transgender Girls From Student Athletics, ACLU Press Release.
--------------------------------------
April 8, 2024 - Kansas City, MO - NAIA Bans All Transgender Athletes From Women's Sports, reported by Julie Kliegman and Jesse Dougherty, Washington Post.
----------------------------------------
March 27, 2024 - Sydney, Australia - Australian Soccer Team With 5 Transgender Players Goes Undefeated In Women's Tournament: 'Huge Difference In Ability', reported by Patrick Reilly, New York Post.
---------------------------
February 21, 2024 - Lowell, MA - Safety Concerns Spark Gender Controversy Following Game Involving Lowell School, reported by Teddy Panos, InsideLowell.com.
------------------------------
February 6, 2024 - Richmond, VA - Bill Requiring Students To Play on Sports Teams Consistent With Their Sex Assigned at Birth Fails In House Subcommittee, reported by Tyler Englander, WRIC TV (Richmond, VA).
-----------------------------------
January 26, 2024 - Canby, OR - Oregon High School Coach Resigns In Protest of 'Boys Playing Girls' Sports': Wrong, reported by Ray Lewis, NBC TV, Montana.
-----------------------------
December 29, 2023 - Columbus, OH - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Vetos Bill That Would Ban Transgender Health Care for Minors, Athletes In Women's Sports, reported by Laura Hancock, and Jeremy Pelzer, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
-----------------------------------
November 28, 2023 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - Monarch High School Principal, 2 Others Reassigned Amid Probe Involving Transgender Student Athlete, reported by Alfred Charles, Jacqueline Quynh, and Anna McAllister, CBS News, Miami.
--------------------------
September 15, 2023 - New Castle, PA - Laurel Approves Gender-Specific Athletic Policy, reported by Nicholas Vercilla, New Castle News. The Laurel School Board's policy is interesting in that it uses chromosomes as the definition for gender, meaning that at some point a high school may have to resort to chromosome testing for sports participation.
-------------------------
August 30, 2023 - Group Protests At CIF Headquarters In Sacramento Over Trans Youth Participation In Girls Sports, reported by Andrew Haubner, CBS TV 13.
-------------------------------------------
August 24, 2023 - Transgender Athlete Laws By State: Legislation, Science More, reported by Katie Barnes, ESPN.
-------------------------------
August 17, 2023 - Idaho transgender sports ban placed on hold. See Block on Idaho Law Banning Transgender Female Athletes Is Upheld By Federal Court, reported by Noble Brigham, Seattle Times (reprinting article from the Idaho Statesman). Click here for the US Court of Appeals For the Ninth Circuit's opinion in Hecock v. Little. See also U.S. Court Won't Let Idaho Ban Trans Athletes From School Sports, reported by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, August 19, 2023, page A-4.
----------------------------
August 10, 2023 - Green Bay, WI - Green Bay School District Addresses Concern About Trans Athlete, reported by Ben Krumholotz, Fox News TV 11.
-------------------------------------------------
July 18, 2023 - California, California Extends Travel Ban to Three States After Transgender Student Restrictions on School Sports, reported by Joshua Nelson, Fox News.
--------------------------
June 13, 2023 - Canada - Canadian Girl, 9, Verbally Attacked, Accused of Being Transgender At Track Meet, reported by Isabel Keane, New York Post, June 13, 2023.
-----------------------------------------
May 20, 2023 - Dublin, CA - High School Track Star Appears To Give 'Thumbs-Down' After She's Pushed Out of State Champs By Transgender Competitor: 'Cheated.', reported by Richard Pollina, New York Post, May 22, 2023.
----------------------------------------
April 20, 2023 - House Republicans Vote To Bar Transgender Athletes From Women's Sports, reported by Josh Christenson, New York Post. Click here to read the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, the new federal bill regarding transgender athletes in sports. The bill impacts any "recipient of federal financial assistance who operates, sponsors, of facilitates athletic programs or activities." We'll continue to track the bill's progress.
------------------------------------
April 19, 2023 - Raleigh, NC - North Carolina House Approves Ban On Transgender Athletes, reported by Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press.
------------------------------
April 18, 2023 - Arizona - Transgender Girls Go To Court Over Arizona School Sports Ban, reported by Terry Tang, ABC News.
----------------------------------
March 21, 2023 - Wyoming - Wyoming Bans Transgender Youths From Girls' Sports Teams, NBC News.
----------------------------------
March 20, 2023 - Washington, DC - 12-year-old Transgender Student Athlete Fights West Virginia's Proposed Anti-Trans Sports Ban, reported by Devan Cole, ABC 7 Chicago, IL. This matter is before the US Supreme Court. We will follow it's progress through the Court.
-------------------------------
March 11, 2023 - Minnesota - Minnesota Ruling Allows Transgender Women To Compete In USA Powerlifting, reported by Kyeland Jackson, Minneapolis StarTribune.
----------------------------------
February 21, 2023 - Dorset, VT - Girls High School Basketball Team Forfeits Tournament Rather Than Play Against Transgender Player, reported by Sara Smart and Jennifer Henderson, CNN, March 1, 2023. The school, Mid Vermont Christian School, was subsequently barred from high school sports by the Vermont Principals' Association, which governs high school sports in Vermont. And, you guessed it, we're off to court with a First Amendment case. See Vermont School Banned From Activities Over Refusal To Play Team With Transgender Athlete Suing State Educational Authorities, reported by Skylar Harris and Jilian Sykes, CNN, November 29, 2023.
-------------------------------
February 7, 2023 - New Hanover County, NC - NHCSB Reverses Transgender Sport Team Freedoms, Meeting Recessed Over Clash Involving A Proud Boy, reported by Brenna Flanagan, Port City Daily (Wilmington, NC), February 8, 2023. This article has video, and you can see the disruption noted in the headline. You can also see the level of intimidation the Proud Boys projected at this meeting.
---------------------------------
January 30, 2023 - Richmond, VA - Virginia House Advances Ban on Transgender Women In School Sports, reported by Jakob Cordes, WRIC.com (Richmond)
---------------------------
November 17, 2022 - Seattle, WA - Is this the next Lia Thomas? Is it no big deal? Or is it somewhere in between? See Transgender Female Cross-Country Runner Dominating New Competition After Struggling Against Boys, reported by Ryan Morik, Fox News. A brief note: the headline somewhat overstates how good the student is. She's not really dominant. However, she did go from being a low level male runner to being a top tier high school girls runner who can win league races and compete with the best high school girls' runners at the State/post-season level. This runner might be a litmus test as to where one feels the line should be drawn between letting transgender athletes compete and protecting women athletes from intrusions from transgender female athletes.
---------------------
November 11, 2022 - Indiana - Lawsuit over Indiana Transgender Sports Ban Heats Up. See Democratic States Support Challenge To Indiana Transgender Sports Ban, reported by Brendan Pierson, Reuters.com. Click here for the text of Indiana's House Bill 1041 (2022 session). Click here for the docket in A.M. v. Indianapolis Public Schools (US District Court, S.D. Indiana 2022).
----------------------------------
October 18, 2022 - Cherokee County, NC - District Cancels Girls Volleyball Games Against School With Trans Player, Cites Safety Concerns, reported by Alec Schemmel, TV 12 (New Bern, NC). The cancellation occurred after a transgender girl spiked a volleyball into an opponent's face, resulting in a concussion. Payton McNabb, the injured girl, has become a very active spokesperson against trans-athletes playing in girls' sports. Payton testified for the North Carolina anti-trans bill that passed in April, 2023. See After Suffering Concussion At The Hands of Transgender Athlete, High School Volleyball Player Becomes Spokeswoman, Sportslitigationalert.com, May 5, 2023, and see High School Volleyball Player Speaks Out After Being Injured By Transgender Opponent, Fox News, June 16, 2023.
----------------
October 5, 2022 - Great Britain - British Rowing Chair Calls for Open Category For Transgender Athletes, Reuters Wire Report on ESPN.com.
---------------------
September 30, 2022 - Connecticut - 'No Chance of Winning': Four Female Athletes Challenge High School Transgender Policy, reported by Casey Harper, Thecentersquare.com. The case at issue, Soule v. Connecticut Ass'n of Schools, Inc., was dismissed on procedural grounds, and is currently on appeal. If the plaintiffs' appeal is successful, we could get a landmark decision sometime in 2023 or 2024. For a procedural update on this case, see 'Records Matter': Connecticut Athletes Appeal Decision To Toss Transgender Sports Lawsuit, reported by Bianca Quilantan, Politcopro.com, September 29, 2022.
---------------------------
August 19, 2022 - Utah - Youth Sports Transgender Politics Come To Utah. First, Utah passed a transgenderban. See Utah Legislature Overrides Governor’s Veto of Transgender Sports Ban, reported by Katie McKellar, Salt Lake City Deseret News, March 25, 2022. Once State legislation was passed, the Utah High School Activities Association had to enforce the law. Unfortunately, they walked right into the worst possible cases – parents whining that the girls who beat their daughters must have been transgender. Well, so far the girls that parents have complained about haven't been transgender. The basic allegation in the complaints boils down to parents complaining that their daughter lost to a girl who doesn’t look all that feminine. It’s governance by rumor, and one of the cases just hit the news. See Utah Officials Secretly Looked Into Female Athlete’s Gender, AP Wire on MSN.com, August 18, 2022. Well, you can guess what came next: that’s right, a lawsuit and an injunction. See Transgender Girls In Utah Can Compete Again After Judge Grants Injunction Blocking State’s Sports Ban, reported by Courtney Tanner, Salt Lake Tribune, August 19, 2022.
-------------------------------
August 19, 2022 - Atlanta, GA - The Controversy Over The Proposed Biden Changes To Title IX Continues. Transgender Women Are the Primary Battleground. Rob Jenkins from Georgia State University states his case. See FMR. Collegiate Athletic Director: Biden's Proposed Changes To Title IX Will Harm Women, Professor Rob Jenkins, Campus Reform, August 19, 2022.
----------------------------
June 4, 2018 - Connecticut - Will Feelings On Transgender Athletes' Participating Change When The Transgender Athletes Win? We're seeing it in Connecticut where two transgender girls won State track medals. This is different than the Texas wrestling case where a transgender boy on medical testosterone couldn't participate as a boy because Texas makes you compete in your birth gender. The transgender boy won the State girls' wrestling championship - showing the limits of restrictions on transgender athletes. But, Connecticut embraces transgender athletes. They're not Texas. However, they have a Texas problem as some Connecticut coaches who were pleased to have transgender athletes compete may not be all that happy now that transgender athletes are starting not only to compete, but to win. See No Easy Answers When It Comes To Transgender Athletes, reported by Jeff Jacobs, Connecticut Post. And it didn't take long for the backlash to come! Indeed, some people do feel differently when the transgender athletes win. See Some Calling For Rule Change After Transgender Track Stars Smoke Competition, reported by Amy Hudak, WTNH-TV (New Haven, CT), June 13, 2018. June 20, 2019 UPDATE - The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is the subject of a Title IX complaint over its transgender policy by three high school girls claiming the CIAC's transgender policy discriminates against cisgender girls, denying them the chance to win, and an opportunity for scholarships. See Connecticut High School Athletes File Complaint Over Transgender Policy, reported by Alex Putterman and Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, June 18, 2019. Some Connecticut transgenders reacted to the complaint by speaking out. See Connecticut High School Transgender Athletes 'no longer want to remain silent" Following Title IX Complaint, reported by Dan Brechlin, Hartford Courant, June 20, 2019. Click here for the complaint. August 8, 2019 UPDATE - We're off to court in what could be a landmark high school Transgender Athlete Case. See Federal Office of Civil Rights Agrees To Investigate Connecticut's High School Transgender Athlete Policy, reported by Dan Brechlin, Hartford Courant.
-------------------------------
May 22, 2018 - Boston, MA - Massachusetts School Adopts New Gender Inclusive Rule for Sports Teams, reported by David Bienick, WCVB-TV.
---------------------------------------------
February 20, 2017 - Allen, TX - In 2017, Texas's transgender rule backfired as a transgender male, undergoing hormone treatment with testoterone, was forced to compete as a girl. He won the girls' State wrestling title, and sparked a national controversy. See High School Transgender Wrestler Wins TX Regional Title, WOWK TV, February 17, 2017 (Allen, TX). Mack Beggs, the transgender student, was transitioning from female to male. Under Texas high school rules, a student must compete in the gender listed on their birth certificate. Beggs won the Texas girls 110 pound championship by forfeit after the runner up refused to wrestle. Beggs would prefer competing against boys - and clearly a number of the girls who were matched against him would prefer him wrestling against boys too. The transgender controversy is compounded by a testosterone controversy as Beggs takes testosterone as he transitions from female to male. However, Texas rules allow testosterone where taken with a doctor's prescription. Could the Texas wrestling story happen anywhere else? Possibly. You can see transathlete.com's list of transgender policies to see how all 51 State high school athletic associations would have handled the Texas wrestler or any other transgender athlete.
----------------------------------------------------------
May 13, 2016 - Click here for the Office of Civil Rights' "Dear Colleague Letter On Transgender Students", offering significant guidance on everything from locker room access to athletic participation to single sex education to restroom access.
--------------------------------
February 2016 - Texas resolves transgender issues with its new "birth certificate rule," under which you play in the gender that's on your birth certificate. See Texas High Schools To use Birth Certificates For Athletes' Gender, reported by Christina Kahrl, ESPN.com, February 27, 2016. This rule clearly bars transgender students from playing in accord with their gender identity. See Gender Rule for School Sports Blasted As Exclusionary by John Austin, Mineral Wells (TX) Index, April 7, 2006.