admin
Fifteen-year-old Tumwater High athlete Frances Staudt bravely refused to play in a junior varsity game when she realized a biological male was on the opposing team, and the federal government has now stepped in. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation after a civil-rights complaint was filed on her behalf, putting Washington’s school policies under a national spotlight.
According to the family and the complaint, Staudt asked coaches and administrators to remove the male-born player or stop the game, and when the district declined she sat out for fear of her safety and the safety of her teammates. School officials reportedly pointed to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association policy that allows participation based on gender identity, a decision that left parents and girls across the state furious.
The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism filed the Feb. 17 complaint alleging sex discrimination and retaliation after the district allegedly launched an investigation into Staudt for “misgendering” the opposing player. This is the kind of bureaucratic overreach conservatives have warned about for years: students who speak up for fairness being punished while policy elites reward gamesmanship.
Make no mistake, this isn’t merely about labels — it’s about fairness, safety, and the integrity of girls’ sports. Across the country colleges and schools are being forced into expensive, divisive fights over biology and competition, and the consequences are real for scholarship opportunities, injuries, and girls’ careers.
Worse still, the complaint says school staff even warned Staudt’s younger brother against filming the game and that the teen and her family received threats after speaking out — a chilling example of how institutions sometimes prioritize ideology over protecting children. Parents should not have to choose between protecting their daughters and being accused of bullying for insisting on common-sense safety measures.
It’s encouraging that the federal government has signaled it will enforce Title IX as written, because states and districts that ignore biology are putting themselves at legal and moral risk. If Washington wants to keep federal funding it must respect girls’ sports and the fundamental right of female students to compete on a level playing field.
This episode ought to be a wake-up call for every parent and school board in America: get involved, elect school leaders who will protect girls, and demand clear policies that put daughters first. Our daughters deserve safe, fair competition, not a social experiment that rewards confusion and punishes the courageous students who tell the truth.
