The Riverside Unified School District has become the latest battleground over transgender athletes’ sports participation after two students filed a lawsuit this week alleging a trans girl ousted them from coveted spots on the team cross-country.

The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, also claims that when the girls protested what they perceived as the unfairness of the situation by wearing T-shirts that read “Save Girls’ Sports “, school officials compared it to wearing a swastika. in front of a Jewish student.

The suit claims the district’s policies and practices “unfairly restrict” girls’ “freedom of expression” and deny them fair and equal access to athletic opportunities. The complaint was filed on behalf of two girls and their parents by Defenders of faith and freedomwhich describes itself as “a nonprofit legal ministry dedicated to protecting religious freedom in the courts.”

Riverside County officials could not be reached for comment Saturday, but in a statement published by the San Francisco ChronicleDistrict spokesperson Liz Pinney-Muglia said “California state law prohibits discrimination against students based on sex, gender identity and gender expression, and specifically prohibits the gender discrimination in physical education and athletics.” Its statement added: “The protections we provide to all students are not only consistent with the law, but also with our core values, which include fairness and well-being. »

That sentiment didn’t satisfy the crowds who showed up to Thursday’s Riverside Unified School Board meeting to complain — some promising to return, with even more protesters, in the coming weeks.

“I’m here today to warn you,” parent Jose Carillo told the board. “Starting today, there will be advocates here at every school board meeting…There will be a lot more of us.” There will be standing room only.

He added that board members should consider the results of the election that returned Donald Trump to the White House. “This election has woken people up,” he said.

School board members did not directly address the issue because it was not officially on the agenda.

The fight in Riverside is part of a series of battles raging across California over trans women in sports. The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs most high school sports in California, allows transgender athletes to join teams based on their gender identity. Many parents and students oppose this policy. A Christian high school in Merced, for example, this month he lost a volleyball match rather than play against a San Francisco private school that had a trans student on the team, according to the San Jose Mercury News. At the college level, a former player and assistant coach at San Jose State filed a lawsuit to try to ban a trans player from playing in a championship game.

The lawsuit against Riverside Unified describes a conflict regarding trans athletes that erupted after coaches made their selections for which runners would compete in a high-level cross country meet earlier this fall.

One student, known in court documents as TS, is an 11th grader so dedicated to running that she took a summer school class to free up her schedule at fall to have more time to train. She was also a team captain and won a coveted spot at the Mt. SAC Invitational, one of the premier high school cross country events in California.

Then a trans girl, known in court documents as ML, transferred to their school.

According to the lawsuit, ML did not practice as many hours with the team and did not show up to all required events. And yet, ML, who posted faster times, was awarded first place, and TS was eliminated from the “Team Competition” portion of the Mt. SAC competition. TS, according to the lawsuit, thus “missed opportunities to participate in high-level competition, thereby losing valuable chances for recruitment and academic recognition.”

The other plaintiff in the lawsuit is on the junior varsity team, but as a top runner, he could be in contention for a varsity spot if one of the varsity runners becomes ill or injured.

Both students alleged that the presence of the trans athlete on their team deprived them of opportunities.

They decided to stage a protest at the Mount SAC meeting, according to the lawsuit. Along with more than a dozen other parents and grandparents, they showed up to the event sporting blue T-shirts that read “Save Girls’ Sports” on the front and back: “C It’s common sense. XX (is not equal to) XY.

The lawsuit says the two students who wore the shirts are religious Christians and that the shirts were “intended to express their religious views and to advocate for the protection of fair competition for girls based on biological sex “.

They also claim that “the messages on the jerseys were not directed at any teammate, student or individual.”

Nonetheless, when they wore them during cross-country practice on Nov. 1, the school’s athletic director told them the shirts created a hostile environment and told them they had to take them off or cover.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the school district’s action restricting students’ expression on their T-shirts is unconstitutional. He also wants the court to declare that the school district failed to provide equal treatment to girls in sports, a violation of Title IX, and seek damages.

The school district has not yet responded in court to the complaint.