Trans athlete and 'uncomfortable' opponent speak out after alleged incident prompts civil rights complaint

Fox News

20-02-2025

A civil rights complaint has been filed to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a teenage girl in Washington state who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game against a trans athlete.
The complaint alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington is currently investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the opponent and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment on Feb. 7.
According to the document, prior to the game Staudt asked the school's principal and athletic director whether the player was a biological male. The administrators then allegedly confirmed they were notified the player was transgender, but denied her pleas to have the player removed.
Staudt removed herself from the game. Then, per the document, a TSD employee allegedly confronted Staudt's younger brother for taking a video of the game, saying, "You better think twice about what you're doing right now."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the TSD for comment.
Staudt appeared on the YouTube series "[un]Divided with Brandie Kruse" with her mother to discuss the situation this week, where they each repeated many of the same allegations included in the complaint.
"I've had threats at me. I've had people telling me I'm going to hell. I've had people saying, 'Good luck having any future after this' and saying, 'I know all the people who are reporting your account are happy to see your downfall, and know that it's going to be a real rough time for you in your future because of your decision to post this,'" Staudt said on the show.
Just days later, the trans athlete involved in the incident, identified as Andi Rooks, appeared on the same show alongside the athlete's father.
Rooks would have sat out if Staudt's concerns were known.
"I've never had an issue until this game, and my goal was never to make anybody uncomfortable in any way, and I didn't even realize Frances had an issue until I got yelled at at the game," Rooks said. "If she had had a conversation with me before the game, I would have sat out. My last thing I want to do is make anybody uncomfortable."
Rooks added that the athlete will sit out any future games if opponents are uncomfortable facing a trans athlete.
"If any other person or player I'm playing against is like, 'I don't feel comfortable with this,' I don't mind sitting out," Rooks said.
Rooks also went on to acknowledge that biological males hold a biological advantage over females, and that the athlete doesn't believe trans athletes should compete against women in the Olympics.
Rooks' father, Donnie Brooks, defended his child in the situation, claiming Andi never played boys' basketball and only ever played girls' sports. Donnie Brooks said he voted for President Donald Trump, who recently signed an executive order preventing trans athletes from competing in women's sports.
However, Washington is one of the many Democrat-run states, including California, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine, that have pushed back on Trump's order.
Washington's high school athletes are currently allowed to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. The WIAA policy states that each athlete will participate in programs "consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed," and there are not even any medical or legal requirements. Bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls and women's sports have been introduced but not passed.
However, the issue became so concerning for residents, that in December the WIAA announced a proposal to create a separate open division for transgender athletes to compete in.
"In order to maintain fair and equitable competition, participation in girls' sports and girls' divisions of sports is restricted to students who were assigned female at birth. The purpose of this policy is to offer clarity with respect to the participation of trans and gender-diverse student-athletes. Additionally, this policy encourages a culture in which student-athletes can compete in a safe and supportive environment, free of discrimination," the proposal read.
That proposal came weeks after the Central Valley School Board, which oversees schools in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, Washington, voted to send a message to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) over the issues after much debate at a school board meeting.
The resolution, titled "Supporting Equity and Safety in Female Sports," claims that the entire board comprised of female members who have either competed in athletics themselves or have daughters who competed in athletics.
One of the women, an unidentified current cross-country runner, shared her experience during that hearing.
"When I ran cross-country for Greenacres Middle School, a boy who was biologically male but identified as female competed on the girls team," she said. "While I respect everyone's right to participate in sports, the situation made me question the fairness of competing of someone who had the physical advantage associated with male biology."
In May, a trans athlete competed in a girls cross-country championship and won.
Veronica Garcia, who was previously known as Devina Brown and Donovan Brown, won the 400m heat race in the girls division with a time of 55.59 seconds. The second-place runner finished at 58.83 seconds. In the finals, Garcia won with a time of 55.75 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place runner, who finished with 56.75.
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