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California teen vows to keep fighting after confronting school district over trans athlete: 'This is not OK'
By Taylor Penley
Published November 26, 2024
A California cross-country runner claims she and her teammates were forced to remove "Save Girls Sports" shirts after their school district ignored concerns over a transgender teammate.
"I have been around females, and just my team in general, who have felt almost silenced to speak out about it because the whole LGBTQ is shoved down our throats, and going into a locker room and seeing males in there… I don't find that safe. It's not okay," student Rylee Morrow told district officials in an impassioned speech that has since gained attention across the web.
"I'm a 16-year-old girl. There's girls around me [and] we do not feel safe having boys in our environment," she continued.
Julianne Fleischer, Legal Counsel at Advocates for Faith & Freedom, is representing two of Morrow's teammates in litigation brought against the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) on two causes of action.
California teen Rylee Morrow spoke passionately in defense of girls' sports. (Fox & Friends/Screengrab)
She joined Morrow on "Fox & Friends" early Tuesday, where she detailed the legal tussle with RUSD. One instance involving the shirt is a free speech cause of action.
"They wore it [the shirts] to their practice, and the athletic director told them that they needed to hide their shirt or change their shirts because that message, ‘Save Girls Sports,’ creates a hostile environment," she explained.
The second issue involving the district concerns an athlete named Taylor who was allegedly replaced by a biological male runner on the varsity team.
"This student did not meet any of the varsity top seven eligibility requirements. Taylor blew those eligibility requirements out of the park. The one qualifying factor that the athletic director considered when replacing Taylor was the students' time. He is a biological male and, of course, he did run faster than my client, so we brought this Title IX cause of action against the School District," Fleischer explained.
Student Rylee Morrow (left) and attorney Julianne Fleischer joined "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday to discuss pending litigation against a California school district. (Fox & Friends)
Morrow told Fox News she's keeping up the fight – not just for those around her – but for all women and girls.
"Having a male on our team proposes genetic advantages for that student. But I'm not trying to use this platform to just advocate for my team. I'm choosing to advocate for girls and women across the globe."
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Riverside Unified School District provided the following statement: "It is important to remember RUSD is bound to follow California law which requires that students be ‘permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records'…
"While these rules were not created by RUSD, the District is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations."
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