The Department of Education announced Monday a Title IX investigation into a Washington state school district accused of discriminating and retaliating against a female basketball player who refused to play against a male-born opponent.
The probe into the Tumwater School District was spurred by a Feb. 17 complaint filed on behalf of a student at Tumwater High School who sat on the sidelines during a Feb. 6 girls’ basketball game rather than compete against a transgender player from Shelton High School.
Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights, said the investigation against the Tumwater School District shows that the Trump administration “will vigorously enforce Title IX to ensure men stop competing in women’s sports.”
“If Washington wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Department, it has to follow federal law,” he said in a Monday statement.
Washington is one of several Democrat-led states that has resisted President Trump’s executive order that vacates the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite and restricts participation in girls’ and women’s scholastic sports to biological females.
Washington State Superintendent Chris Reykdal said that the president’s order contradicts state law barring discrimination based on gender identity.
“Our state law prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity, and we will not back down from that,” said the Democrat Reykdal in a Feb. 6 statement.
The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism filed the Feb. 17 complaint on behalf of 15-year-old Frances Staudt after she raised safety and privacy concerns about playing against the male-born student.
The school principal and athletic director countered by citing the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association’s policy allowing students to compete based on gender identity, according to the complaint.
During the game, Frances voiced her concerns “about a boy playing in a game that was meant for girls, and she continued requesting that the school officials remove the male or stop the game.
“They did not,” said the FAIR complaint. “Instead, TSD is now investigating Ms. Staudt for allegedly ‘misgendering’ the male player, purportedly in violation of TSD policies against bullying and harassment. A finding of any such violation would arguably constitute an infringement of Ms. Staudt’s right to free speech in violation of her First Amendment rights.”
A school employee also discouraged Frances’ 13-year-old brother from taking a video recording of the game, telling him, “You better think twice about that,” the complaint said.
Laurie Wiedenmeyer, Tumwater School District spokesperson, said the district received notification of the investigation Friday from the department’s Office for Civil Rights.
“We take this matter seriously and are committed to working with OCR to address the concerns in the complaint,” she said in a statement. “Our priority has always been to create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environment for all students, families, and staff.”
Monica Harris, FAIR executive director, applauded the department’s Office for Civil Rights for taking on the investigation.
“All female student-athletes in Washington are entitled to feel safe in sports and enjoy a fair opportunity to compete,” she said in a Monday statement. “We deeply appreciate that schools and athletic associations are making efforts to create inclusive environments, but we also feel strongly that these efforts must not erode long-standing sex-based rights that are intended to protect girls.”
The department launched investigations last month into the California Interscholastic Federation and the Minnesota State High School League after they signaled their intention to abide by state anti-discrimination law in defiance of Mr. Trump’s executive order.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.