California lawsuit over trans cross-country athlete partially advances past motions to dismiss

Taylor and Ryan Starling of Riverside, California, discussed their ongoing lawsuit over trans inclusion in girls sports, speaking at the state capital and all the fallout that has come with it.

A lawsuit filed by two female high school athletes over a controversy involving a trans athlete in California has partially survived motions to dismiss. 

Taylor Starling and Kaitlyn Slavin, girls cross-country runners at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, filed the lawsuit in November 2024. They alleged a transgender athlete took Starling's varsity spot and that they were confronted for wearing shirts that said "Save Girls Sports" in protest. 

The suit alleges Martin Luther King administrators compared the shirts to "swastikas." 

The defendants include the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD), California Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. But Bonta and Thrumonds were dismissed from charges in the ruling. 

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Ryan and Taylor Starling of Riverside, California (Courtesy of Taylor Starling)

U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, denied the school district’s bid to dismiss the plaintiffs' Title IX claim based on intentional discrimination. However, Sykes also ruled in favor of the school district's argument that the students had failed to state claims for violations of Title IX. 

Sykes upheld the plaintiffs’ standing to pursue monetary damages but ruled out an injunction against the school to have the trans athlete removed from the team because the athlete has already graduated. 

The families of Starling and Slavin and their attorney from the firm Advocates for