EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Starling, a distance runner at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, lost her spot on the varsity team earlier this season because of a transgender transfer student.
Several parents of Martin Luther King students told Pak Gazette Digital that the school allowed the trans athlete to compete on the varsity cross-country team despite missing practices for academic reasons. These parents include Starling’s father, firefighter Ryan Starling, and construction subcontractor Dan Slavin, father of Kaitlyn, another runner on the team.
“The fact that the male athlete was able to compete by attending less than 25% of practices is not fair. In what era, on what team, in what sport can you barely show up to practice and still compete?” Dan Slavin told Pak Gazette Digital. “It’s not fair and it’s not right for those who work hard every day all season long.”
Both families are currently involved in a lawsuit against the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD).
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Ryan Starling told Pak Gazette Digital that the loss of his daughter’s college place was emotionally upsetting for his entire family, as cross country played a pivotal role in her life. And then, when her daughter and other girls on the team confronted school administrators about it, she claims they were told that “transgender people have more rights than cisgender people.”
“They’ve said it several times not only to Taylor, but to her sister,” Ryan Starling said, adding that Taylor is one of three triplets and that all three are active on college sports teams. “All of Martin Luther King’s administrators have made this comment, and the Title IX coordinator for the Riverside Unified School District has stated ‘that as a cisgender girl, she does not have the same rights as a transgender girl’ about several girls, not only our daughters, but several girls on campus.
An RUSD spokesperson declined to give official comment on Ryan Starling’s claims in a conversation with Pak Gazette Digital.
RUSD previously provided a statement to Pak Gazette Digital insisting that its handling of the situation has been in accordance with California state law.
“While these rules were not created by RUSD, the District is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. California state law prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of gender, gender identity, and gender expression, and “specifically prohibits gender discrimination in physical education and athletics. The protections we provide to all students are not only aligned with the law but also with our core values that include equity and well-being,” the statement said.
In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, granting California students at the school and college level the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and to use facilities consistent with their gender identity, regardless of gender”. that appear in the student’s records.”
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Section 4910(k) of the California Code of Regulations defines gender as: “The actual or perceived sex of a person and includes the perceived identity, appearance, or behavior of a person, whether that identity, appearance, or behavior is different.” or not those traditionally associated with a person”. sex of the person at birth.”
California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Bylaw 300.D. reflects the Education Code and states: “All students must have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on the student’s records.”
RUSD also blamed officials in Washington, DC, and the California state capital, Sacramento, for their handling of the situation.
“As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests must be directed at those who are in a position to affect those laws and policies (including officials in Washington DC and Sacramento),” his statement said. statement.
But Starling, Slavin, other students and their families have been willing to do much more than simply send a letter to their local legislators.
Taylor and Kaitlyn ignited a viral trend in their communities when they showed up to school in November wearing t-shirts that said “Save Girls Sports.” Martin Luther King administrators allegedly confronted the girls about the T-shirts, comparing them to swastikas, according to their lawsuit against the district.
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Then, more and more students began showing up each week wearing the shirts, as the school had to change their dress code and start punishing students for wearing them. This did not stop the t-shirts from spreading and growing. It became a weekly ritual for hundreds of students every Wednesday to show up wearing t-shirts supporting the girls and their messages, and many of them created viral posts on social media.
In early December, school administrators gave up efforts to discipline students for wearing the shirts. Sources told Pak Gazette Digital that more than 400 students showed up wearing the shirts at a time, and students at other schools in the district began wearing them in class.
While this was happening, Taylor was also taking steps to claim his spot on the varsity team, according to his father. Ryan Starling says it was a “transformative” experience and motivated her both athletically and academically. He has since earned his spot back on the varsity team and his father says he even beat the trans athlete in a recent competition by more than three seconds.
“He’s had a lot of support from his friends, who were wearing all the shirts,” he said.
The Starling family hasn’t just received positive attention, as Ryan Starling says there have been multiple concerning negative messages and even a threat. The family had to delay their recent family vacation to ensure Taylor’s safety for a trip to the state competition, as her parents did not feel comfortable allowing her to travel alone.
“There was some negative stuff online, there were some threats of violence towards our daughters, there were different things, and we just didn’t feel comfortable leaving Taylor for a day and a half and flying her out a day later so we could run at state, so “We decided to all stay together as a family and support Taylor, and then we delayed our vacation until the beginning of the year,” Ryan Starling said.
The situation came to a potential tipping point during a five-hour RUSD school board meeting on Dec. 19. Outside the office, there were protests between activists and parents wearing “Save Girls Sports” t-shirts and LGBTQ activists.
Sources told Pak Gazette Digital that LGBTQ activists at the event were harassing protesters on the other side and even disrupted a women’s prayer group during a prayer circle before the meeting.
Later, inside the meeting, parents and opposition activists gave impassioned speeches about their thoughts on the situation, with several speakers shouting in hysterical tones. But Ryan Starling, who stayed throughout the meeting, had a glimmer of hope toward the end of the meeting. She says that after it was over, a newly joined board member spoke to the girls who were there to protest the trans athlete, and that the new board member suggested their issue would be resolved once President-elect Trump is inaugurated. the position on January 1. 20.
“Don’t worry girls, we’ve got your back, just wait until January 20th,” the new board member said, according to Ryan Starling.
Supporters of transgender athletes hold signs as an overflow crowd converges outside the Riverside Unified School District meeting Thursday night to debate the rights of transgender athletes to compete in high school sports, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 . (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Trump has pledged to ban trans athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, and the new Republican-controlled Congress has indicated its intention to do so as well.
the house standards package for the 119th Congress was released this week, and the first step on its agenda is a bill that would bring revisions to Title IX that would only allow athletes to compete in the gender category they were assigned at birth.
However, California and Governor Gavin Newsom have vowed to resist the incoming Trump administration.
