By permitting a transgender athlete to compete in ladies sports activities, the Jurupa Unified College District is violating college students’ rights, alleges a lawsuit that accuses the athlete of sexually harassing ladies and having an unfair aggressive benefit.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a former pupil and two ladies who attend Jurupa Valley Excessive College, seeks to bar the Jurupa Valley district from forcing feminine pupil athletes to compete with and share locker room area with the trans athlete recognized as A.H.
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Whereas A.H. will not be named within the lawsuit, Jurupa Valley Excessive senior AB Hernandez is a trans athlete who has competed on the women’ volleyball and track-and-field groups since 2022-23.
Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez celebrates after a degree in opposition to Chaffey Excessive College in a ladies volleyball match in Jurupa Valley on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (Photograph by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Jurupa Valley Excessive College’s AB Hernandez ideas the ball over the web in a ladies volleyball match in opposition to Chaffey Excessive College in Jurupa Valley on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (Photograph by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
Present and former Jurupa Valley Excessive College volleyball gamers, from left, Hadeel Hazameh, Alyssa McPherson and Madison McPherson are suing their college district, alleging Title IX violations for permitting a transgender athlete in ladies’ sports activities and locker rooms. (Courtesy of Advocates for Religion & Freedom)
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Jurupa Valley’s AB Hernandez celebrates after a degree in opposition to Chaffey Excessive College in a ladies volleyball match in Jurupa Valley on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (Photograph by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer)
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Fleischer added: “This case is about restoring dignity to women’s sports and ensuring that the God-given distinctions between male and female are respected, not erased.”
A college district spokesperson couldn’t instantly be reached Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 9, for remark.
The women who’re suing are being influenced by adults, she alleged, and “being manipulated to provide false information.”
Apart from the district, the California Interscholastic Federation and state Division of Schooling are listed as defendants.
Filed Tuesday in federal district court docket, the lawsuit, which alleges violations of constitutional rights and federal regulation, seeks unspecified damages and to dam the defendants from implementing state regulation and insurance policies permitting trans athletes in ladies sports activities.
The plaintiffs are Madison McPherson, a former Jurupa Valley Excessive pupil; two senior Jurupa Valley feminine pupil athletes recognized as A.M. and H.H. — one is Madison McPherson’s youthful sister — and their moms, Maribel Munoz and Hanan Hazameh.
The lawsuit argues that the women had been compelled to compete with A.H., whose superior athletic capacity stemming from her beginning gender helped her end forward of Madison McPherson, her sister and Hazameh in monitor and area occasions.
Hernandez positioned first within the ladies excessive soar and triple soar occasions on the CIF State Championships in Might and likewise completed second within the ladies lengthy soar.
A.H.’s “inherent biological advantages stemming from male physiology” additionally give her an edge over her teammates in volleyball, the lawsuit alleges. A minimum of six excessive colleges have forfeited or canceled ladies’ volleyball matches with Jurupa Valley’s due to A.H.’s presence, in line with the lawsuit.
A.H.’s power additionally threatens athletes’ security, the lawsuit argues.
“A.H. has the strength to hit balls at a force greater than most female athletes yet lacks the skill to consistently control his strikes,” legal professionals wrote. “On multiple occasions, A.H. struck opposing players’ heads with the ball” and laughed afterward, the lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiffs, who’ve non secular causes for not desirous to share locker rooms with the other gender, “experienced repeated discomfort when A.H. entered and lingered in the girls’ locker room, often remaining inside after changing and making eye contact with female athletes” whereas they modified, the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit accuses A.H. of participating “in unwelcomed and offensive contact, including slapping and/or placing his hands on female players’ buttocks, including Plaintiffs, during practices, games, and huddles.”
“ … In addition to experiencing physical discomfort in the locker room and during team activities, Plaintiffs have been subjected to repeated and unwelcome sexual comments and remarks in the athletic environment, creating an offensive atmosphere.”
The lawsuit additionally accuses Jurupa Valley Excessive coaches and directors of repeatedly ignoring the plaintiffs’ considerations about A.H. enjoying ladies sports activities.
At one level, the lawsuit alleges, Jurupa Valley Principal Nancy Reyna instructed Madison McPherson she might be suspended for her feedback about A.H. or transgender athletes and that she ought to “‘keep quiet’ because she ‘had too much to lose’ given her opportunities to play collegiate volleyball.”
Hernandez’s presence in ladies sports activities is a part of a nationwide tradition battle battle over whether or not trans athletes ought to compete with females.
Defenders of transgender athletes say college sports activities generally is a important assist system and optimistic exercise for younger individuals struggling over their gender id.
Final month, the Riverside Unified College District, with out saying why, introduced the forfeiture of a varsity ladies volleyball between Jurupa Valley Excessive and its Poly Excessive College. Critics, together with some Poly college students, stated the district’s social media put up concerning the forfeit opened the door to LGBTQ+ bullying of Hernandez.
Nereyda Hernandez defended her little one at a Riverside college board assembly in August.
“This has nothing to do with fairness in sports and everything to do with erasing transgender children,” she stated.
The lawsuit isn’t the primary involving an Inland Empire college district and trans pupil athletes.
Final yr, Advocates for Religion & Freedom sued Riverside Unified on behalf of two highschool ladies who stated they had been compelled to take away or conceal T-shirts opposing trans athletes in ladies’ sports activities.
This can be a creating story. Verify again for updates.
