A transgender student has been banned from all high school sports after competing on a girls' volleyball team in violation of state law, the Florida High School Athletic Association ruled.
A letter to the school's interim principal also revealed that the association had fined Monarch High School $16,500 for the violation.
According to the association, the fine reflects a fine of $500 per match for the 33 matches in which the unidentified student participated.
“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 has resulted in four school boards going on leave. A law signed by Ron DeSantis requires athletes to compete on teams of their birth gender.
The unidentified transgender high school student from Florida who played on the women's volleyball team has now been banned from playing sports for a year
Monarch High School was placed on the same probation as the student and has now been fined $16,500 for violating state law
The student may not play in any of the association's sports teams until November 20, 2024, one year after the violation was recognized.
The letter also detailed that Monarch High was reprimanded, placed on probation and that the principal and athletic director are required to attend compliance seminars for the upcoming school year.
The transgender student's involvement with the sports team is now under investigation by the Broward School District.
“The district has received the letter from the Florida High School Athletic Association regarding the recent incident at Monarch High School. The district's investigation into the matter remains ongoing at this time,” district spokesman John Sullivan told the newspaper South Florida Sun Sentinel.
When news broke that the student was joining the girls volleyball team, the high school principal and three other school officials were transferred.
A member of the Monarch High School staff was suspended after someone sent a tip to local officials that the team had a biological male to 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 all shifted from their teaching roles.
Norton later revealed that she is the mother of the transgender student.
Jessica Norton, an information management specialist and volleyball coach at the school, identified herself as the mother of the transgender child and was transferred from the school
Students rallied behind their principal, James Cecil, and four other staffers who were reassigned following 'allegations of inappropriate student participation in sports'
Alex Burgess, the former volleyball coach, recently revealed that he did not know the player was born male and only found out last month, despite the student identifying as a girl since she was a toddler.
“I had no idea,” he said. “I think there were people who already knew, but I think whoever came in to do some kind of investigation pointed fingers at her.”
The student started taking hormone blockers at the age of eleven and had been on the team for two years. The unnamed student began identifying as a girl at the age of three.
Her mother claimed that her daughter's removal was a direct attempt to endanger her.
“There's a long history in this country of people getting out against their will. Forced outings, especially of a child, are a direct attempt to endanger the person being deported,” Norton's statement said.
“We kindly ask everyone to respect our family's privacy and give our family the space we need to talk about our experiences on our own terms and timeline.”
The student “presented” as female as early as kindergarten, according to a lawsuit filed by the family in 2021.
'She saw herself as a girl and conveyed that in clear terms to her parents. When they were five or six, her parents realized, based on her behavior and statements, that their daughter was transgender.”
She also developed a love of soccer and competed with the girls in high school, the lawsuit added.
“At age 11, on the recommendation of her endocrinologist, she began taking hormone blockers to stop testosterone,” the report said.
'This year she started receiving estrogen under medical supervision and will continue to do so for the rest of her life. This allows her to live like the girl/woman she is.'
Hundreds of Monarch High School students subsequently staged two strikes in response to the staff relocation
Monarch High School assistant principal Kenneth May (left) was transferred after the incident. Teacher and athletic director Dione Hester (right) was reassigned after someone sent a tip to local officials that the team was allowing a biological male to compete as a female
They gathered on the football field waving signs in support of their peers and chanting 'trans lives matter'
Hundreds of Monarch High School students staged two strikes in response to the staff relocation.
They gathered on the football field waving signs in support of their peers and chanting “trans lives matter.”
DeSantis signed a law in 2021 banning transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports teams in public schools.
“In Florida, girls will play girls' sports and boys will play boys' sports,” DeSantis said as he signed the bill. “We're going to make sure that's the reality.”
The statute says that athletic teams or sports designated for women, women or girls are not open to male students.
It adds that “a statement of a student's biological sex on the student's official birth certificate shall be deemed to have correctly stated the student's biological sex at birth.”
More than two dozen other states have similarly restrictive laws, including Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming.