Michigan's Monroe School Board Votes 4-2 to Limit Girls' Sports and Locker Rooms to Biological Females
The vote comes two weeks after a volleyball player and her father sued the district. The father calls the new policy 'watered down' but an 'incremental victory.'
A southern Michigan school board has voted to restrict girls' athletics to biological females, Fox News reports. Superintendent Andrew Shaw of Monroe Public Schools said the board approved the policy 4 to 2, with one member absent.
The policy. Titled "Girl's Athletic Participation and Facilities Use," it says girls' athletics "shall be restricted to biological females as documented on the birth certificate at the time of birth," and that locker rooms follow the same rule. Shaw told Fox the policy applies to Monroe schools only and does not bind visiting teams.
The background. Briley Lechner, a varsity volleyball player at Monroe High School, and her father, Sean, filed a federal lawsuit on Oct. 9, announced by the Thomas More Law Center. It raises Title IX and constitutional claims against the district, the Michigan High School Athletic Association and school officials. The suit alleges officials knowingly hid from the team and parents that a Sept. 9, 2025 match against Ann Arbor's Skyline High School would involve a transgender girl. Briley told Fox she had "no clue that there was a boy on the other team." We covered the lawsuit earlier this month.
The family's response. Sean Lechner said, "The new policy may be watered down, but it's an incremental victory for my daughter and every female athlete. It's shameful it took nearly a year to get here but we still have work to do. Who's to say they can't change it again?" He said the family has received harassing and threatening messages since the lawsuit was announced.
The other side. Two board members voted no. Fox does not report their reasons or any comment from the district beyond Shaw's statement, and it says it reached out to the Thomas More Law Center. The article does not include a reply from the Michigan High School Athletic Association or from the transgender student or that student's family.
Note for readers: the allegations in the lawsuit have not been decided by a court. The account of the match and the locker room comes from the Lechners and their lawyers.