ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – As the Ann Arbor Skyline High School girls volleyball team with a transgender athlete advances deeper and deeper into the state tournament, it is raising the heat on the debate of boys playing on a girls team.
The Skyline team defeated Saline on Thursday in the Region 4 championship match. The Ann Arbor team will now play Byron Center on Tuesday at Gull Lake High School and is just three victories away from a Div. 1 state championship.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February that banned males from playing in female sports. In 2023, Democrats amended the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation, gender identity and expression as a protected class.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) said those are conflicting laws and they are waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to have the final say.
National headlines.
The Ann Arbor transgender athlete has garnered national attention as the news site Outkick, which is owned by Fox Corporation, broke the story earlier this fall. The Outkick reporter who has been reporting on this story since the season started said he was harassed by fans and the Skyline principal when he attended a playoff match hosted by Ann Arbor last week.
The Gladwin County Republican Party spoke out recently about the controversy.
“This is just so wrong,” the GOP county group posted on Facebook. “The girls were either brainwashed by wokism (look where they live), or were afraid to say anything for fear of retribution. This won’t end till all female athletes refuse to play with or against teams with males pretending to be girls on them.”
“Stand up.”
Gabi Tiagi, a parent who lives in White Lake, has opposed allowing a transgender athlete to play on the Ann Arbor team.
“This isn’t complicated,” Tiagi said in a Nov. 12 Facebook post where she called for people to rally against allowing boys to play on girls teams. “Title IX exists to protect girls’ safety, fairness, and opportunity in sports. However, instead of enforcing that law, the MHSAA and Ann Arbor Public Schools have prioritized convenience over compliance, and our daughters are paying the price.”
Tiagi continued: “If you believe girls’ sports and women’s equality still matter, stand up. If you want your daughters to have the same opportunity you had, stand up. If you know this isn’t fair or safe, stand up.”
