Latest news with #LMUSD
Fox News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California athlete says she changes clothes in her car to avoid sharing a locker room with trans athlete
As California's transgender athlete conflict escalates, one high school athlete has resorted to changing clothes in her car to avoid uncomfortable situations. During a Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD) school board meeting this week, junior Audrey Vanherweg revealed her decision. "I strongly disagree with what is going on in the girls' locker room and on the girls track team, so much so that I change in my car for track practice because I feel way more comfortable in my car than I do in my own school's locker room," Vanherweg said. Vanherweg isn't the first LMUSD girl to express anxiety over the track and field locker room this season. During a meeting in April, fellow junior track athlete Celeste Diest recounted her experience having to change in front of a biological male trans athlete before practice while that athlete allegedly watched her undress. "I went into the women's locker room to change for track practice where I saw, at the end of my row, a biological male watching not only myself, but the other young women undress. This experience was beyond traumatizing," Diest said, beginning to cry. "Adults like yourself make me and my peers feel like our own comfort was invalid, even though our privacy was and still is completely violated." Both meetings included several parents speaking in opposition to trans athletes in attendance, while other community members spoke in support of trans inclusion. Both meetings also included just as many speakers advocating for transgender athletes. At this week's meeting, a trans track and field athlete described the decision to join the girls team while wearing a transgender pride flag. "When I joined track last year, I was terrified," the athlete said. "I was alone, and I feared for my life. When I started going to track practice, I was too afraid to make friends. I thought they would reject and mock me for being transgender. At my first meet, I sat alone, on the wet, muddy ground. "I fear that somebody would accuse me of a heinous crime, so I walked on razor-thin ice. I never spent longer than three minutes in the locker room. I never made eye contact with people," the athlete said. "And yet, people still accuse me, someone who deals with sexual harassment on a daily basis, of being a predator. So, I'm here to say that I am not the villain, I am the victim." Women's rights activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, a leader in the national movement to protect women's and girls sports, previously told Fox News Digital she believes trans athletes involved in the current culture war are victims. "I view them as victims too. I really do. They have fallen victim to the movement. They have unfortunately fallen for the lie that they weren't created uniquely and intentionally in God's perfect image. And that is a horrible message to send to anyone," Gaines said. "I believe they're victims too, which is the sad reality of the gender ideology movement." California has allowed transgender athletes to compete in girls sports since 2014. California's high school sports league, the CIF, was one of the first in the country to openly defy President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order after it was signed Feb. 5. The CIF is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for potential Title IX violations over the issue. California's state legislature failed to pass two GOP-backed bills to reverse the current policies that allow males in girls sports after every Democrat voted against them April 1. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California girl cries while recounting trans athlete experience, school board president says 'wrap it up'
A school board meeting in California featured emotional debate over transgender athletes being allowed to share locker rooms with high-school girls. One girl who cried during a speech was told to "wrap it up" by the board president. During the Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD) board meeting on Wednesday, a high-school junior girls' track athlete at Arroyo Grande High School named Celeste Diest took the podium to recount her experience of having to change in front of a biologically male trans athlete before practice, while that athlete allegedly watched her undress. "I went into the women's locker room to change for track practice where I saw, at the end of my row, a biological male watching not only myself, but the other young women undress. This experience was beyond traumatizing," Diest said, as she began to choke up and cry. "Adults like yourself make me and my peers feel like our own comfort was invalid, even though our privacy was and still is completely violated." Diest then fought through her tears to argue that the trans athlete's XY chromosomes define the person as a male, adding, "That is basic biology." But Diest was then interrupted by LMUSD board president Colleen Martin. "Okay, please wrap it up," Martin said, gesturing to Diest to finish her point. The teen then sniffled and continued speaking. "I just want to ask 'what about us?' We can not sit around and allow our rights to be given up to cater to an individual that is a man, who watches women undress and is stripping away female opportunity that once was fought for us. Sadly we have to try and regain our rights back. I hope you put effort into the restoration of our school safety." Diest then walked away from the podium to a roaring applause from the audience before Martin tried to silence the cheers. Martin even began slamming her gavel down to try and temper the growing applause, but the cheers only got louder after that. "No!" Martin yelled when the cheers got louder. Then, Martin just sat there silently as the applause continued for several more seconds, before it finally tempered, and the next speaker gave another speech opposing trans inclusion. Prior to Diest's speech, one of the other speakers, a woman named Shannon Kessler, who was scheduled to go after the teen, asked Martin whether she could give her speaking time to Diest. But Martin denied that request. "We're not doing that," Martin said. Several other parents gave speeches in opposition of trans athletes in attendance, while other community members spoke in support of trans inclusion. California has been one of the many blue states in the nation to defy President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, and has allowed trans athletes to compete with girls for over a decade. A law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, and gives California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records." California Code of Regulations section 4910(k) defines gender as: "A person's actual sex or perceived sex and includes a person's perceived identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with a person's sex at birth."CIF Bylaw 300.D. mirrors the Education Code, stating, "All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student's records." These laws and the subsequent enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state has resulted in multiple controversies over the issue over the last year alone. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state's law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student's gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student's records," a CIF statement said. The California state legislature's Democrat majority rejected two bills that would have changed state law to ban trans athletes from girls' sports on April 1. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
