Green Bay high school permits trans-identified male to compete against females despite parental concerns, protests

On Thursday, a Green Bay, Wisconsin, school district determined that a trans-identified male will be allowed to play on a female high school sports team as long as they meet Wisconsin Interscholastic Atheltic Association (WIAA) guidelines.

According to Fox 11, 40 to 50 parents concerned about the safety of their girls attended the closed-door meeting with the Green Bay school district's Title IX coordinator, where the district informed them of the decision. One parent, Ryan Guisck, told the outlet that the conversation "was really one-sided." 

He said district officials told them, "This is the WIAA, this is Title IX, if the girls have issues they can find counseling and life goes on.” He added, "We were told as long as they meet the protocol or procedures in place from the WIAA, the athlete will be participating this fall and that is how things will go.”

Guisck and three other sets of parents noted in a previous interview that during summer practices girls were leaving with welts and bruises, and their girls will not be participating in tryouts on Monday. “They're just not used to the ball coming at them that hard," Guisck said.

“A lot of these girls are specifically quitting this team because they're concerned for their safety,” he pointed out. 

The district said in a statement that it “cares about the well-being of every student. All decisions regarding a student's ability to participate in co-curricular athletics/activities are made in accordance with Title IX law, Board policy, and WIAA regulations.”

The group also expressed concerns over a male using the female locker room. The district bathroom policy states, “In most cases, a student who is transgender will be permitted to access the men's/women's segregated restrooms that correspond to the gender identity that the student consistently asserts at school and in other social environments.”

It also told the outlet that the district “works with the transgender students to determine what they would prefer. However, they have a legal right to use the locker room. If they choose to use the locker room they gender identify with, students who may have concerns the District will work with to provide support.”

The WIAA policy on transgender athletes states, "A male-to-female transgender student must have one calendar year of medically documented testosterone suppression therapy to be eligible to participate on a female team, consistent with WIAA policy. Note that a male-to-female student who has NOT started testosterone suppression therapy may participate on male teams if desired by the student, as there would be no concern about safety or competitive equity without biological interventions having been implemented.”

Earlier this year, in April, the Biden administration moved to include "gender identity" as a protected class under Title IX, even as 77 percent of Americans find this to be harmful to women. The Biden Education Department said it would take comments on the matter, and the final decision on the rule changes is expected to go into effect in October.