California female athletes file federal Title IX lawsuit over locker room policy

Three female high school athletes in California have filed a federal lawsuit alleging Title IX violations after they say they were subjected to sexual harassment when a male student was allowed to change in the girls’ locker room.

The Alliance for Faith and Freedom reported in a Sept. 9 press release that they had filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jurupa Valley High School students Hadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson, and Madison McPherson.

The press release stated that school officials knowingly allowed a male student to join the girls’ track and volleyball teams and allowed him to change in their locker room. The release states that the officials “ignored repeated reports of ‘butt tapping,’ sexual harassment, and unsafe conditions caused by the male athlete.”

It adds that the officials punished female students who complained about the male student, “threatening suspension from school, accusing the athletes of failing to be ‘team members,’ and removing athletes from team communications.”

The lawsuit charges the California Department of Education, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), and the Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) for violating Title IX, the Equal Protection Clause, and the First Amendment.

“Title IX was passed to stop sex discrimination against women, not to erase them from their own sports,” said Advocates for Faith & Freedom President and Chief Counsel, Robert Tyler. “Our daughters are being denied fair play and subjected to sexual harassment all because California insists on putting radical gender ideology ahead of common sense and safety.”