The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) in California held a board meeting on Thursday amid controversy about a transgender cross-country runner at Martin Luther King High School and about a reprimand of students for protesting the athlete’s participation.
The board meeting will address recent allegations in a lawsuit that school administrators compared “Save Girls’ Sports” T-shirts to swastikas.
Protesters gathered outside the RUSD district office, advocating for and against transgender inclusion.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Video footage of the meeting, provided by parents to California Family Outreach Director Sophia Lorey, showed a crowd flying the transgender pride flag and wearing T-shirts of similar colors.
Lorey told Fox News Digital that there were a few people outside the venue wearing the “Save Girls’ Sports” T-shirts, but the pro-transgender activists outnumbered them.
The California Family Council hosted one along with religious rights law firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom press conference in front of the district office before the board meeting to address the ongoing controversy.
Ryan Starks, the father of a girl at the school named Taylor who is involved in a lawsuit against the school, spoke at the news conference. The lawsuit alleges that Taylor lost her college spot to a transgender athlete and that her T-shirt to express her opposition to the participating athlete was likened to a swastika.
“It’s just heartbreaking to see what my daughter has been through this season,” Starks said.
“That’s unfair. This is completely unfair. It breaks my heart as a father to see my daughter going through this and having everything taken away from her, coming up to me and just hugging me. And there’s nothing I can do about it.” It’s just heartbreaking.
An attorney representing Taylor in the lawsuit, Julianne Fleischer, previously told Fox News Digital that the school leaders’ rhetoric was “incredibly dangerous.”
“If there are adults who compare a ‘Save Girls Sports’ message that promotes equality, fairness and common sense – if there are adults who compare that message to a swastika representing the genocide of millions of Jews, then there really is None.” “I don’t know how you’ll react to that,” said Fleischer.
Hundreds of Martin Luther King High School students began wearing the shirts every Wednesday. The school responded by imposing a dress code, which resulted in many of these students being detained. But that didn’t stop her. Students continued to wear the shirts weekly.
The school recently stopped enforcing its shirt dress code.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Sources reported that Fox News officials at nearby Arlington High School, Riverside Polytechnical High School and Romona High School also saw students wearing the shoes.
In a statement previously sent to Fox News Digital, RUSD said it allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must abide by California state law.
Students at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, wear T-shirts that say “Save Girls’ Sports” to protest a transgender athlete on the cross country team. (Courtesy of Sophia Lorey)
“It is important to remember that RUSD is bound by California law, which requires students to be permitted to participate in gender-segregated school programs and activities, including sports teams and competitions, consistent with their gender identity, regardless of gender. “Listed in the student’s records,” the statement said.
“As these matters play out in our courts and in the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to influence these laws and policies, including officials in Washington, DC and Sacramento.”
California has had laws protecting transgender athletes in women’s sports since 2014. AB 1266 went into effectwhich grants California students at the school and college levels the right “to participate in gender-segregated school programs and activities, including sports teams and competitions, and to use facilities consistent with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on the student’s records.” “
Follow Fox News Digital Sports coverage of X and subscribe the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
