The Monroe Public School Board in Monroe, Michigan, has voted to ban transgender athletes from playing in girls’ sports. The vote came after the father of a Monroe High School volleyball player filed a Title IX lawsuit over a game last year against Skyline High School.
The father claimed his daughter competed against a transgender athlete from Skyline High School and that the district failed to tell families about that athlete. An independent investigation found in April that there were no Title IX violations. The parent’s attorney, Richard Thompson, said the investigation was flawed.
“It was a report that was predestined to find unsubstantiated,” Thompson said. “This law firm that they used was a friendly law firm. They knew what the results were going to be.” Superintendent Andrew Shaw said the district is committed to following state and federal guidelines and laws while upholding student safety.
The American Civil Liberties Union said the school board’s action violates Michigan’s civil rights laws. The dispute now puts Monroe Public Schools at the center of the same conflict facing many communities: whether girls’ teams will remain based on biological sex or be reshaped by gender ideology.
For Ohio families and schools, the lesson is plain. Girls deserve fair competition and school leaders should be honest with parents when policies affect their daughters’ safety, privacy and opportunities. Protecting girls’ sports requires clear rules before another family has to go to court.
