According to reports, most members of a high school volleyball team in Vermont have been barred from their own locker room after dusting off a transgender athlete.
Blake Allen, who plays for the Randolph Union High School girls’ volleyball team, told WCAX How uncomfortable it makes him feel.
“It’s a big deal… everyone’s asking, ‘Why aren’t you allowed in the locker room?’ ” He said.
The problem began after a dispute with a transgender athlete who has not been publicly identified, WCAX reported.
The athlete reportedly made “inappropriate remarks” to other players, who then complained. WCAX reported.
Whatever was said did not come out, the outlet reported.
Some team members want a transgender player to be transferred, but Vermont’s state law means students can play sports and use lockers that match the gender they identify with.
“They want all the girls to feel uncomfortable turning into a single-stall bathroom that would take more than 30 minutes,” Allen said. “Where, if one person changed separately, it would take a minute, like no extra time.”
The school sent an email to the players’ families after the incident, saying that the school “has plenty of space where students who feel uncomfortable with the law can make changes in privacy.”
Allen said the problem isn’t the transgender athlete’s presence on the team, but in the locker room.
“There are biological boys who go to the girl’s bathroom, but never the locker room,” Allen said.
School officials sent another email to parents informing them that they were allegations of investigation that the volleyball girls bothered transgender students,
Lisa Randolph, co-president of Randolph High School, said that when policies are violated, disciplinary action that aligns with the school’s rules will be implemented, adding that the safety of students is “the district’s top priority”.
State policy stipulates that a transgender student should not be required to use a locker room or restroom that conflicts with the student’s gender identity.