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Students File Suit Over California Transgender Sports Rules
Two Currents, One Alumnus of Former Riverside County High School Sue State, District Over Regulations They Say Unfairly Discriminate Against Their Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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Pictured, from left, are Hadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson, and Madison McPherson, plaintiffs in an action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California claiming constitutional violations based on a transgender male being on the girls’ volleyball and track teams. |
Two current and students and one former pupil at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside County have filed a complaint in federal court against their school district, the California Interscholastic Federation, and the state Department of Education over the inclusion of a biological male transgender athlete on the girls’ volleyball and track teams, asserting religious and sex discrimination claims.
The complaint was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by former student Madison McPherson as well as two current high school seniors, Alyssa McPherson and Hadeel Hazameh. Alyssa McPherson and Hazameh, both minors, are referred to in the pleading by their initials and assert their rights by and through their mothers as guardians.
Defendants are the Jurupa Unified School District (“JUSD”), the California Interscholastic Federation (“CIF”) and the California Department of Education (“CDE”).
In the pleading, the athletes alleged:
“Plaintiffs have suffered sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, unsafe and unfair athletic environments, viewpoint discrimination, and infringements on their religious liberty and safety. These actions have deprived them of equal opportunities and their civil rights guaranteed by Title IX, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the First Amendment.”
They added:
“When Plaintiffs A.M. and H.H. most recently informed their coach that they were uncomfortable sharing the volleyball court and locker room with a male student, the coach retaliated by removing them from team group chats and communications, and telling one of the girls, ‘If you want to be a captain and a member of our team, then be one.’ ”
Unfairness Concerns
In the complaint, Madison McPherson claims that, during her time on the team, she spoke with the girls’ volleyball coach, Liana Manu, weekly about the purported unfairness of the inclusion of the biologically male athlete, AB Hernandez (identified in the complaint as “A.H.”), in girls’ sports teams and her discomfort over the shared locker room, but was repeatedly told by school officials that employees were following state law.
Tuesday’s lawsuit seeks declarations that the regulations in question violate federal law and constitutional principles. The complaint targets three rules, California Education Code §221.5(f), CIF Bylaw 300.D, and JUSD Administrative Regulation 6145, each of which requires schools to allow students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.
The plaintiffs cited Executive Order 14168, signed by President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day, which provides that “[f]ederal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology” and reaffirms federal protections for biological females participating in sporting activities.
Pointing out that each of the defendants accepts some form of federal funding, the plaintiffs asserted:
“By enforcing AB 1266, CIF Bylaw 300.D, and AR 6145.2, Defendants CDE, CIF, and JUSD, have allowed a male student, A.H., to compete on girls’ sports teams and access girls’ facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms.”
In 2024, then-President Joe Biden issued new rules expanding the act’s protections to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. However, a district court judge in Kentucky struck down the changes in January.
Title IX Claim
In Tuesday’s pleading, the plaintiffs set forth a claim under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which provides that “[n]o person…shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance[.]”
The students claimed that they suffered sex discrimination due to A.H.’s inclusion on the teams, saying that “[o]f the approximately 16 CIF meets in which A.H. competed against girls during the 2024-2025 outdoor track and field season, he took home at least 36 first-place victories or gold medals” and that “A.H.’s track performance demonstrates his biological advantage.”
They added that “[s]ince the commencement of the 2025-2026 volleyball season, at least six schools have forfeited or canceled their matches against” Jurupa girls’ varsity volleyball team and that “[i]t was widely reported that each of these six schools forfeited or canceled their matches…because they refused to compete against the male athlete, A.H.”
Madison McPherson and Hazameh alleged that A.H.’s membership on the team has deprived them “of meaningful athletic opportunities.”
Constitutional Claims
The pleading also asserts constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983, alleging that the regulations at issue “have subjected Plaintiffs to discrimination and unequal opportunity based on sex, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause” and that being forced to share a locker room with a biological male conflicts with their sincerely held religious beliefs in violation of their First Amendment rights.
Hazameh is a practicing Muslim, and the McPherson sisters identify as Catholics.
They also asserted free speech violations, saying:
“Defendants’ actions—including threats of suspension, removal from team chats, warnings to remain silent, and coercive pressure to associate—constitute viewpoint discrimination, retaliation, and prior restraint on Plaintiffs’ protected speech.”
Madison McPherson, Alyssa McPherson, and Hazameh seek declaratory, injunctive, and “nominal, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and other monetary relief” as well as costs and attorney fees.
Murrietta-based Advocates for Faith & Freedom is representing the plaintiffs in the action. In a Wednesday morning press release, President and Chief Counsel Robert Tyler said:
“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.”
The METNEWS reached out to the school district for comment, however, Director of Strategic Communications Jacquie Paul declined to issue a statement, saying “[w]e cannot comment on pending litigation.”
The case is McPherson v. Jurupa Unified School District, 5:25-cv-02362.
On June 2, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division sent a letter to California public schools informing them that CIF Bylaw 300.D was facially unconstitutional. A few days later, CIF and the California Department of Education indicated that they would not change course.
Dhillon responded by filing a complaint under Title IX seeking a permanent injunction ordering that CIF and CDE be directed to “prohibit[] the participation of males in athletic competitions designed for females.”
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