A lawsuit filed by two high school students in Riverside, California, is drawing national attention to issues of fairness in girls’ sports and free speech rights. The case involves a 16-year-old transgender athlete, known as ML, who competes on the girls’ varsity cross-country team at Martin Luther King High School. The lawsuit, filed by two of ML’s classmates, challenges the school’s handling of athletic team placements and a subsequent free speech controversy.
ML’s participation on the girls’ varsity team displaced co-captain Taylor Starling, also 16, to the junior varsity (JV) squad. ML’s time during a qualifying run was 52 seconds faster than Starling’s, causing Starling to miss an important meet where college recruiters scout for talent.
“I feel like it definitely messed with my chances to be seen by college recruiters,” Starling explained. “That is a very big meet, so it was definitely disappointing to me that I got removed from that varsity spot.”
Tensions escalated when Starling and her friend Kaitlin Slavin wore T-shirts to school and practice reading “Save Girls Sports, XX Does Not Equal XY” in protest. The school’s athletic director instructed them to remove the shirts, reportedly calling the message “hostile and harmful” and comparing it to wearing a swastika. This action led to the federal lawsuit, which alleges the school violated the girls’ First Amendment right to free speech.
On December 4th, 150+ students showed up wearing the shirt to express their solidarity with the female track athletes. Upon arrival to school that day, administrators were waiting to issue dress code violations to any students wearing the shirt. Some students were forced to zip up their hoodies, others had to put tape over the words, ‘XX Does not Equal XY,” while others removed the shirt entirely.
“The school district is saying one person’s rights are more important than Taylor and Kaitlin’s rights, and that’s not OK,” said Julianne Fleischer, the attorney representing the girls. “They need to follow federal law, which prohibits censoring messages simply because they are unpopular.”
The Riverside Unified School District issued a statement affirming its adherence to California law, which requires schools to allow students to participate in sex-segregated sports according to their gender identity. The statement references CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) Bylaw 300.D, which mirrors state education codes ensuring students can participate based on gender identity.
The lawsuit also claims the school violated Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs. The complaint argues ML was not held to the same attendance and practice requirements as other team members. ML’s mother defended her daughter, stating ML is taking extra classes to graduate early and maintains communication with the coach.
The parents of the 150+ students who were dress-coded remain outraged at the blatant violation of their children’s First Amendment rights. Parents are flooding the school district phone lines, arguing the district has no right to censor a message merely because they disagree with it.
Parents are also planning to flood the Riverside Unified School Board meeting on Thursday, December 19th to speak out and advocate for the students wrongly targeted by MLK High School administrators.