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For ‘misgendering’ opposing trans-female player

A 15-year-old girl at a Washington State high school is under investigation for “bullying” and “harassment” for allegedly “misgendering” a male player on an opposing girls basketball team.

According to a complaint from the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism, earlier this month Tumwater High School player Frances Staudt noticed during pre-game warm-ups that her team’s opponent had a biological male on its roster.

Tumwater Principal Zach Suderman and Athletic Director Jordan Magrath confirmed this was the case as Washington Interscholastic Activities Association policy allows students to “play on the team that aligns with their ‘gender identity.'”

In addition, state officials have voiced objections to President Trump’s executive order barring biological men from competing on women’s sports teams.

The attorney general’s office said “we are repulsed by the president’s dehumanization of the trans community,” and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal called the EO “discrimination against trans female athletes.”

As such, the two Tumwater officials refused Staudt’s request “to either remove the male or stop the game entirely,” with Suderman claiming to do either would amount to “gender-identity-based discrimination.”

Staudt retorted not removing a male from a female competition actually is what constitutes “discrimination.”

After refusing to play in the game, Staudt “became increasingly distraught by the threat she perceived to her teammates’ safety” and thus continued to request that officials not let the boy — identified by “[un]Divided” podcaster Brandi Kruse as Shelton High School senior Andi Rooks — play or stop the game altogether.

This led to the Tumwater School District beginning an investigation into Staudt for “harassing” the male player.

The Staudt family alleged Principal Suderman had asked Frances’ mother “Are you telling me that your daughter will never get knocked down or potentially injured by someone bigger, stronger and faster than she is while playing sports?”

They also claim a school employee intimidated Frances’ brother for taking video of the game: “You better think twice about what you’re doing right now,” he (allegedly) said.

Staudt subsequently wrote on Instagram “This is far from over, as it has fueled a passion for me to speak out against the wrongdoing that is STILL happening to FEMALE athletes in this great country.”

She also accused Rooks of “brutalizing” her teammates (pictured, upper left; see segment in first video at 8:15).

MORE: Male athlete pole vaults girls’ track team to state championship

According to “[un]Divided,” school officials demanded Staudt take down her post, and Rooks’ father sent numerous text messages” to Staudt’s mother threatening to “come to her house” if she did not respond.

Host Brandi Kruse further noted the Tumwater Education Association, the local teachers union, came out in support of Rooks, posting on Facebook “Dear trans kids, the world is better with you in it and you are worth fighting for.”

It also wrote (among other things) “Hate cannot drive out hate,” “We are recognizing our students as they already exist in the world,” and “Hatred wrapped in the cloak of euphemisms is still hatred.” (Both posts apparently have since been deleted.)

To their credit, Rooks and his father appeared on Kruse’s show shortly after the controversy to give their side of the story. The father’s main motivation was setting the record straight regarding Staudt’s “brutalizing” social media comment.

Rooks said the idea of “transitioning” came from his mother around second grade; his father said he “wasn’t in a position to question anything” about his son’s decision(s).

Notably, unlike others in similar situations, Rooks and his dad were remarkably understanding and reasonable during the discussion.

Highlights from the back-and-forth:

— Rooks is vehemently opposed to minors going through physical gender transitioning (despite Washington State allowing procedures like hormone therapy for minors), and is against the forced use of gender pronouns.

— Rooks said he would have gladly sat out the game against Tumwater if Staudt or someone else had come to him expressing concerns about his participation. He was disappointed Principal Suderman and other Tumwater HS officials didn’t make him aware of Staudt’s concerns: “My goal was never to make anybody uncomfortable in any way […] I didn’t even realize Frances had an issue until I got yelled at at the game.”

— Rooks is opposed to biological males playing against biological females. Why, then, does he play on girls’ teams? “It’s just something that I’ve always done,” he said. He noted his participation hadn’t been an issue until now, and that he’s “never been that good at basketball.”

Kruse pointed out that laws and rules cannot be made based on whether or not a biological male “sucks” at a particular sport.

In addition, Rooks and his dad (a Trump supporter, by the way) did not seem to grasp Kruse’s question about why the onus should be put on concerned students like Staudt (and her parents) to raise the issue of a trans-female’s participation in a (girls) sport, especially given the political environment.

They seemed equally befuddled when Kruse asked about Rooks using girls’ locker rooms (which he does).

MORE: Coach suspended after filing complaint about transgender athlete on women’s volleyball team

IMAGES: Shutterstock.com; Brandi Kruse/Facebook

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