Trans student is BANNED from high school sports after competing for Florida girl’s volleyball team – as the administration is fined $16K for letting her participate
A transgender student has been banned from all school sports after competing on the girls’ volleyball team in violation of state law, the Florida High School Athletic Association has ruled.
The letter to the school’s interim superintendent also said the association had fined Monarch High School $16,500 for the violation.
The monetary fine represents a $500 per game fine for the 33 matches the unidentified student played, according to the association.
“So now we’re punishing student-athletes and wasting money on fines that could be used to support our schools and our students?” said Jennifer Solomon of Equality Florida, an LGBTQ advocacy group.
The student’s participation in the team resulted in four school administrators being placed on leave. The law, signed by Ron DeSantis, requires athletes to compete on teams of their birth gender.
An unidentified transgender Florida high school student who played on the girls’ volleyball team has now been banned from participating in competitive sports for a year.
Monarch High School received the same probation as the student and is now fined $16,500 for violating state law.
The student was banned from playing on any of the association’s sports teams until November 20, 2024 – one year after the violation was admitted.
The letter also details that Monarch School has been reprimanded, placed on probation, and the principal and athletic director are required to attend compliance workshops in the upcoming school year.
A transgender student’s participation on a sports team is currently under investigation by the Broward school district.
“The district has received a letter from the Florida High School Athletic Association regarding a recent incident at Monarch High School. The county’s investigation into this matter is currently ongoing, county spokesman John Sullivan said. South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Once news broke that the student was on the girls’ volleyball team, the high school principal and three other school officials were reassigned to other positions.
A Monarch High School employee was suspended after someone reported to local authorities that the team had allowed a biological male may compete as a female in violation of state law.
Principal James Cecil, assistant principal Kenneth May, athletic director Dione Hester and volleyball coach Jessica Norton were suspended from their teaching positions.
Norton later revealed that she was the mother of a transgender student.
Jessica Norton, an information management specialist and volleyball coach at the school, identified herself as the mother of a transgender child and was transferred out of the school.
Students rallied around their principal, James Cecil, and four other staff members, who were reassigned following “allegations of inappropriate student participation in athletics.”
Alex Burgess, a former volleyball coach, recently revealed that he did not know the player was born male and that he only found out last month, despite the student identifying herself as a girl since she was still a child.
“I had no idea,” he said. “I think there were people who already knew, but I think whoever came to investigate it pointed the finger at her.”
The student started taking hormone blockers at age 11 and stayed on the team for two years. The unnamed student began identifying as a girl at the age of three.
Her mother said her daughter’s removal was a direct attempt to put her in danger.
“This country has a long history of removing people against their will—forcing the removal, especially of a child, is a direct attempt to endanger the person being removed,” Norton said in a statement.
“We ask that everyone respect our family’s privacy and give our family the space they need to talk about our experiences on our own terms and time frame.”
According to a lawsuit filed by the family in 2021, the student has been “outed” as female since preschool.
“She saw herself as a girl and clearly conveyed this to her parents. At five or six years old, her parents, judging by her behavior and statements…, realized that their daughter was transgender.”
She also developed a love for soccer and competed against girls in high school, the lawsuit says.
“At age 11, on the recommendation of an endocrinologist, she began taking hormone blockers to stop testosterone production,” the report said.
“This year, under the supervision of a doctor, she began 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.”
Hundreds of Monarch High School students then staged two walkouts in response to the staff move.
Monarch High School assistant principal Kenneth May (left) was reassigned following the incident. Teacher and athletic director Dion Hester (right) was reassigned after someone sent local officials a message that the team allowed a biological male to compete as a female.
They gathered on the football field, waving signs in support of their peers and chanting “Transgender Lives Matter.”
Hundreds of Monarch High School students staged two walkouts in response to the staff move.
They gathered on the football field, waving signs in support of their peers and chanting “Transgender Lives Matter.”
In 2021, DeSantis signed legislation excluding transgender girls and women from girls’ and girls’ sports teams in public schools.
“In Florida, girls will play girls’ sports and boys will play men’s sports,” DeSantis said as he signed the bill. “We’re going to make sure this is a reality.”
The statute states that athletic teams or sports designated for women, women, or girls are not open to male students.
It adds that “the indication of a student’s biological sex on the official birth certificate is considered to be the correct indication of the student’s biological sex at birth.”
More than 20 other states have similar restrictive laws, including Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming.