Collegiate Charter School of Lowell was competing against KIPP Academy Lynn during a February 8 girls’ basketball game when coach Kevin Ortins stopped play after some of his students were getting injured.
A video circulated of the Collegiate Charter player, described as shorter than her opponent, wrestling with the biological male athlete from KIPP Academy.
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Despite the furor, the school has refused to apologize and instead condemned the ‘harmful comments’ being made about the trans student.
The American Civil Liberties Union has also defended the trans girl’s actions.
The physical description of the biological male player, who identifies as female, was reported by Fox News Digital.
Their name have not ben disclosed, but reports suggest that she has also been on the girl’s volleyball team, and girl’s track team at her school.
Rhonda ‘Nikki’ Barnes, the school’s executive director, told The Boston Globe ‘to the best of our knowledge, this student has never been on a men’s team at KIPP.’
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Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said the clip is ‘part of a coordinated attempt nationwide to try to remove LGBTQ people from public life.’
Rose further stated that there ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of trans students playing high school sports without issue across the nation, and cautioned against conflating allegations of aggressive conduct by one player with broader issues of inclusion.’
The incident has been drawing national headlines with some calling for more guidance from the state on how to handle transgender participation in sports, civil rights advocates warn the incident is being blown out of proportion.
KIPP Academy was leading the game 31 to 14, but the game goes into the record as a 10-0 win, as per the news outlet.
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Collegiate’s spokesperson Casey Crane said Ortins forfeited the game after many of his players expressed concern of getting hurt.
Part of the decision to forfeit the game was also due, in part, that the team’s playoff game was close.
‘On February 8th, the coach of the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell Girls’ Basketball Team decided to end a game at halftime after watching a third player injured in the game with KIPP Academy,’ the statement read.
‘The bench was already depleted going into the game with the 12-player roster having four players unable to play.
When the coach saw three more go down in the first half leaving him with five players, he made the call to end the game early. The upcoming Charter School playoffs were looming, and he needed a healthy and robust bench in four days.’
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association said a player cannot be excluded from a team based on gender identity.
Section 43.3.1 on the handbook said, ‘A student shall not be excluded from participation on a gender-specific sports team that is consistent with the student’s bona fide gender identity.’
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‘It is a recommended best practice that schools communicate with their opponents as necessary about the gender-specific needs of their team in order to promote inclusion,’ said the handbook.
(*) www.WhitePrideHomeSchool.com
* Original Article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13132099/amp/massachusetts-school-no-apology-basketball-trans.html?ito=smartnews
