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Today — 25 May 2025Main stream

Trans athlete qualifies for California girls' track and field state championship amid federal investigation

A biologically male trans athlete will compete for the girls' long jump and triple jump state championship in California next week. 

The trans athlete finished in first place in both events at Saturday's California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Track Championship Masters Qualifiers. 

In triple jump, the athlete won with a distance of 40-04.75, while the runner up only reached 39-06.00. In long jump, the trans athlete's margin of victory was shorter, reaching 19-03.50 while the runner-up managed 19-00.75. 

During the long jump medal ceremony, the athlete who finished in third place did not show up and accept the third place medal next to the trans athlete. No reason has been given. The second-place finisher received a noticeably vocal applause. 

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Tracy Howton, a local parent of an athlete who competes in track and field, attended the event Saturday and had to witness what is becoming a regular site for her and others in the community. 

"As the parent of a female jumper, we have watched this happen at the last three track meets. Today we watched incredible female athletes lose their opportunities to go to states to a biological male. I can’t imagine how devastating it would feel to work so hard and then be unfairly stripped of your opportunity to compete at states. It’s heartbreaking," Howton told Fox News Digital.

"Governor Newsom, our California elected officials and the CIF are failing our girls. It’s that simple. They owe the competitive female athletes of California representation. They owe them responsible decisions based on science and fundamental truth. For our family, this experience has reinforced just how important it is to use your voice to stand up for truth, remembering that bad decisions can be corrected."

The CIF has been at the center of a national controversy in recent weeks as the trans athlete has dominated the girls' track and field postseason. 

The situation has become so volatile that President Donald Trump's administration sent a warning to the CIF and the athlete's high school, Jurupa Valley High School, of consequences for allowing the situation to continue. 

CIF is already under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for defying Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. The federation came under additional scrutiny when its officials allegedly forced athletes to remove shirts that read "Protect Girls Sports" at the Southern Sectional prelims on May 10. 

"CIF’s and Jurupa Valley High School’s apparent flouting of federal civil rights law by allowing a male athlete to compete in a female California track and field [Southern Sectional Division 3 final] this Saturday, and the alleged retaliation against the girls who are protesting this, is indefensible," Julie Hartman, a Department of Education spokesperson, previously told Fox News Digital.

"We will not allow institutions to trample upon women’s civil rights. OCR’s (Office of Civil Rights) investigation into CIF continues with vigor."  

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The Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) has responded to the controversy in a previous statement to Fox News Digital. 

"JUSD continues to follow both California law and CIF policy regarding school athletics. Both state law and CIF policy currently require that students be permitted to participate in athletic teams and competitions consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records. JUSD remains committed to protecting the rights and safety of the students we serve, in accordance with applicable state and federal laws," the statement reads.

The situation is set to come to a head next Saturday when the athlete will look to cap off a dominant postseason run with a pair of state titles. 

The event will take place at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis, California, and will feature a rematch between the trans athlete and a female athlete who has spoken out against her trans opponent's inclusion. 

In long jump, the athlete will face off against Katie McGuiness, who came in second place behind the athlete at last weekend's sectional final. McGuiness earned an automatic state championship qualification this Saturday with a distance of 18-05.50. 

"I ran down the runway, and I landed, and I watched them measure my mark, and it was 18.9," McGuiness said in an interview on Fox News' "America Reports." "And I just remember thinking that there was nothing else that I could do. That was it. And I was honestly very discouraged, and I'm a high school senior and winning CIF has always been a goal of mine, and I wasn't able to compete with someone who was genetically different than me."

McGuinness made her overall stance on the issue clear.

"There are just certain genetic advantages that biological males have that biological girls don't," she said. "Frankly, I just can't stand for that."

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Before yesterdayMain stream

State Dept defends human rights abuse report changes, says streamlined process eliminates 'political bias'

21 April 2025 at 10:48

The State Department is pushing back against criticism of its changes to the process of reporting human rights abuses. 

NPR reported last week that the Trump administration was scaling back annual reports meant to inform congressional decisions on allocating foreign aid to countries, claiming the State Department was "changing its mind on what it calls human rights." 

Fox News Digital is told the 2024 Human Rights Report has been restructured to remove redundancy, increase readability, and return the focus to human rights abuses – instead of a "laundry list of politically biased demands and assertions." 

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"NPR’s report that the State Department is scaling back the Human Rights Report is misleading and misguided," a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. "This year’s modifications are critical for removing report redundancy, increasing readability, maintaining consistency to U.S. statutes, and returning focus to human rights issues rather than political bias."

Fox News Digital is told the restructuring of the reports "will be more responsive to legislative mandates that underpin the report" and "does not reflect a change in U.S. policy on promoting respect for human rights around the globe or in any particular country." The State Department notably has attempted to streamline the reports to better align with statutory requirements under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

NPR and Politico reported on an internal memo that purportedly showed the 2024 Human Rights Report, which was finished in January but has been adjusted under the new administration, will no longer include references to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or sections on discrimination or abuse against the LGBTQ+ community. 

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The annual reports – known as "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" – normally come out in March or April. NPR said sections that called out countries for "forcibly returning a refugee or asylum-seeker to a home country" or the "serious harassment of human rights organizations" would be absent this year. NPR also stressed that prior reports had sections detailing countries' "involuntary or coercive medical or psychological practices," "arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy," "serious restrictions to internet freedom," "extensive gender-based violence," and "violence or threats of violence targeting people with disabilities," but the new report would not.

Paul O'Brien, executive director of Amnesty International, USA, criticized the changes under the Trump administration. He told NPR: "What this is, is a signal that the United States is no longer going to [pressure] other countries to uphold those rights that guarantee civic and political freedoms – the ability to speak, to express yourself, to gather, to protest, to organize." 

During President Donald Trump's first term, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited what he categorized as a "proliferation of human rights" on the global stage. 

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"We wanted to go back to first principles, back to our founding documents, our Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights to focus on those things that are central to the understanding of rights here in America," he said in July 2020. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is overseeing changes at the department during Trump's second term. Last week, he announced the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC), which he accused of costing taxpayers more than $50 million per year and spending "millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving." 

Ambassador of Riley Gaines Center discusses 'violent' protests during fairness in women's sports rally

24 January 2025 at 09:43

An ambassador for the Riley Gaines Center at the Learning Institute held a fairness in women's sports rally earlier this week, but she was bombarded by "violent" protesters.

Olivia Krolczyk was at the University of Washington this week to speak about transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports, but she was met with plenty who opposed her.

"As soon as I arrived on campus, I was immediately met with confrontation. I had signs and flyers everywhere across campus telling me to leave, rallying people for the protest. It was insane – you couldn’t walk 10 feet without seeing them," Krolczyk told OutKick's Charly Arnolt on Friday.

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Krolczyk then said there were 100 protesters "line-dancing to country music, which seems a little weird. Usually, that’s a conservative thing, is country music."

She said the protest was initially peaceful. 

"However, it went from 0 to 100 in five minutes. It turned absolutely violent when Antifa showed up. We ended up having about 200 protesters," Krolczyk said.

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"Immediately, the fire alarm was pulled, the doors were blocked, and no one could get in or out of the building. We were essentially held hostage inside the event space. We only had 10 security officers compared to 200 protesters, so there wasn’t much we could do.

"The protesters were certainly violent. They were breaking windows, throwing in noisemakers that screech really loud, pulling the fire alarms constantly, wasting the fire department’s time."

According to her bio on the center's website, Krolczyk joined the center upon receiving a failing grade for using the term "biological woman." 

She then posted about the experience on TikTok, which got 6 million views, but it was deleted for "community guideline violations," and she was permanently banned.

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Jimmy Carter, 39th president, remembered for his integrity and devotion to humanity

29 December 2024 at 13:42

Jimmy Carter, the nation’s 39th president, has died at the age of 100. He served a single term as president, but he also will be remembered for his decades of humanitarian work

Those who knew him – opponents and supporters alike – described him as a man of integrity, whatever flaws he may have had as president. 

"When we look at the whole thrust of Jimmy Carter’s life, it’s an amazing American story," Douglas Brinkley, author of The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Journey Beyond the White House, told Fox News Digital. 

"He grew up with no electricity, went to work in the… Navy. He became President of the United States at the height of the Cold War and won the Nobel Prize for his post-presidency," Brinkley said. "All the time, his ambitious humanity was aimed at trying to make sure that everybody he came in contact with, had a better, fair shake at life." 

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A peanut farmer and former one-term governor of Georgia, Carter beat the odds and was elected president in 1977. 

"Nobody thought Carter could procure the Democratic nomination. But Carter had a unique amount of bulldog tenacity [and] gumshoe perseverance," Brinkley said. 

His campaign befuddled Democrats, as Carter was deeply religious and ran to the right of his Republican opponent, Gerald Ford, on some social issues. As a Washington outsider, Carter’s agricultural background and accent endeared him to the deep south. 

He took office at a time when Watergate, the Vietnam War, and stagflation had left the country in a sour mood. In Washington, his populist campaign inevitably collided with establishment Democrats who never fully accepted Carter. 

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"He never had a full grip on his own Democratic Party. Ted Kennedy liberals didn’t like Carter, and the Scoop Jackson Cold War hawks didn’t like him," Brinkley said. "So, he was kind of an island unto himself as president." 

Carter’s foreign policy wins included brokering Mideast peace by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for nearly two weeks in 1978. At home, Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad, and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy and the Federal Emergency Manager Agency. 

Carter designated millions of acres in Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges and he appointed a then-record number of women and non-whites to federal posts. He also built on Nixon’s opening with China and pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. 

Yet, his president was also marked by double-digit inflation, long gasoline lines, and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat. 

Carter was also crippled by his – as Brinkley put it – "lack of communication chops." Oratory, Brinkley said, was not his strong suit. 

In 1979, Carter delivered his famous "Crisis of Confidence" speech in which he lamented that the United States, once a nation "proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God" had descended into "self-indulgence and consumption."

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"Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we’ve discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning," Carter said. "We’ve learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose." 

Craig Shirley, a Reagan biographer and historian, recalled watching the speech while working for a senator on Capitol Hill. 

"I remember watching it that Sunday night and feeling for the first time in my life, I felt scared as an American. The speech was such a downer. It was so depressing," Shirley said. "A president is supposed to tell the truth to the American people, but also appeal to the American people’s hopes and aspirations and not their worst feelings or desires." 

Carter ultimately served a single, tumultuous term and was defeated by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980. 

But whatever flaws his presidency may have had, Carter will perhaps be most fondly remembered for the decades he spent post-presidency advocating for democracy, public health, and human rights via The Carter Center. 

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The Center, which Carter opened with his wife, Rosalynn, in 1982, has been a pioneer of election observation, monitoring at least 113 elections in Africa, Latin America, and Asia since 1989. In perhaps its most widely hailed public health effort, the organization recently announced that only 14 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in all of 2021, the result of years of public health campaigns to improve access to safe drinking water in Africa. Carter's work with the Center garnered a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. 

For his humanitarian work, Shirley argued, Carter will be remembered as "one of the best ex-presidents of the 20th century." 

"Carter really wasn’t for PR stunts. He really threw himself into his charitable works and did so for many years," Shirley said. 

"We’re going to remember him kindly. He was a terrific former president with what he did with the Carter Center and the various initiatives around the country. His book writing stands out [as does] his charitable works. So, he goes down in his history as an extraordinarily good, former president."  

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

ICE deports former high-ranking Somalian military official accused of torture and terror

26 December 2024 at 12:20

ICE officials in Washington, D.C., deported a former high-ranking Somalian military officer who they say carried out torture, terror and other human rights abuses on civilians.

The officer, 71-year-old Yusuf Abdi Ali – also known as "Tukeh" – was removed from the U.S. by ICE officials on Dec. 20. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Somali National Army and commander of the Fifth Brigade in northwest Somalia during the dictatorship of Siad Barre from 1987 to 1989.

As a high-ranking officer in the Somali National Army, Ali allegedly oversaw terror activities against the Isaaq clan in northwestern Somalia. He is believed to have carried out an array of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention.

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According to a Dec. 23 statement by ICE, the Somali National Army committed numerous human rights violations against civilians in those years, including the execution of suspected political opponents, the burning of entire towns, the unlawful use of landmines and the destruction of water reservoirs to target civilian populations.

In February 2024, a Department of Justice immigration judge issued a 65-page decision determining that Ali personally engaged in torture while in leadership in the Somali National Army. According to the decision, Ali ordered soldiers under his command to detain, torture and assist in extrajudicial killings. The judge ordered him removed to Somalia.

The U.S.-based law firm the Center for Justice & Accountability, which has represented one of Ali’s alleged victims, Farhan Warfaa, calls him "one of the most ruthless commanders" of the Barre Somalian dictatorship. Warfaa was abducted as a teenager by soldiers under Ali’s command, held for months, repeatedly beaten and eventually shot and left for dead.

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Warfaa ended up surviving, and in 2019 a federal civil court in Alexandria, Virginia, found Ali liable for his torture.  

Ali was living as a permanent resident in Springfield, Virginia, until Homeland Security Investigations arrested him in November 2022.

"The United States will not be a safe haven for those who commit human rights violations, and we will persist in our efforts to pursue justice for the victims of these crimes," said Russell Hott, acting executive associate director for Washington, D.C., ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Hott said that "though justice was delayed in this case, it ultimately prevailed."

Pennsylvania GOP leaders will reintroduce bill to restrict transgender athletes in girls, women's sports

6 December 2024 at 14:37

Roughly 2½ years after former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill to restrict transgender athletes in girls and women's sports, Republican leaders in the state are making another push to do so.

Penn Live reported Friday that conservative senators in the state are pushing the new "Save Women's Sports Act" among numerous bills introduced in Harrisburg this week.

Every female member of the Senate GOP signed a memo that stated an intention to reintroduce the bill.

"It’s imperative that we protect the opportunity for female athletes to compete on the athletic field in a fair and equal manner," the senators wrote in this week’s memo.

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"Allowing a biological male to compete on a women’s scholastic athletic team puts all women on the playing field at an automatic disadvantage."

In 2022, Wolf called barring biological male athletes from female sports discriminatory against "marginalized youth."

"I have been crystal clear during my time in office that hate has no place in Pennsylvania, especially discrimination against already marginalized youth representing less than half of 1% of Pennsylvania’s population," Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement after he vetoed the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act."

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Wolf added lawmakers who voted for the bill "should be ashamed of themselves" for supporting what he called "incredibly harmful" policy.

Wolf left office Jan. 17, 2023, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Josh Shapiro.

The veto of the bill came months after biological male Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania won an NCAA Division I title. Riley Gaines, who swam against Thomas, has since become a leading voice of keeping female sports female.

Half of U.S. states have restrictions on transgender athletes in female sports.

President-elect Trump has said he would move to prohibit transgender girls and women from competing against biological females.

There is a battle in Minnesota's Supreme Court involving transgender powerlifter JayCee Cooper, who was banned from female competitions by USA Powerlifting.

Cooper sued USA Powerlifting in 2021 after being rejected from the women's team three years earlier. In the complaint, Cooper alleged the organization violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination against people "having or being perceived as having a self-image or identity not traditionally associated with one's biological maleness or femaleness."

After appeals, it was eventually ruled the federation did not discriminate against Cooper.

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Canadian town fined for refusing to celebrate Pride Month, fly rainbow flag

1 December 2024 at 09:19

A Canadian town is facing a fine of $10,000 for refusing to participate in Pride Month and fly the "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag" outside its municipal building.

The town of Emo, Ontario, which has a population of about 1,300 and is situated near the border with Minnesota, was found to have violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for refusing to proclaim June as Pride Month, according to a report from the National Post.

The town was also issued a citation for its failure to fly "an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag," the report notes, despite Emo not having an official flag pole.

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In addition to the $10,000 fine, officials from the town were ordered to complete mandatory "human rights" training.

According to the report, the decision to cite Emo began with a 2020 incident in which the town was approached by a group called Borderland Pride, which issued a written request asking that Emo declare June Pride Month.

The group’s request also included a draft proclamation, containing clauses such as "pride is necessary to show community support and belonging for LGBTQ2 individuals" and "the diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression represents a positive contribution to society."

Borderland Pride also asked the city to fly an "LGBTQ2 rainbow flag for a week of your choosing."

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The request was defeated by a 3-2 vote at a later Emo township council meeting, where Mayor Harold McQuaker argued there was "no flag being flown for the other side of the coin… there’s no flags being flown for the straight people."

The line was seen as particularly offensive to Human Rights Tribunal vice-chair Karen Dawson, who said she found the remark "demeaning and disparaging of the LGBTQ2 community of which Borderland Pride is a member and therefore constituted discrimination under the Code."

Dawson further argued that the remark was made in "close proximity" to  McQuaker’s no vote on the Borderland Pride request, meaning it "constituted discrimination under the Code."

Borderland Pride sought a $15,000 fine for the Township as well as a $10,000 fine for each of the three council members who voted no on the group’s request, according to the report, though the tribunal eventually settled on the $10,000 fine for the township and a $5,000 for McQuaker.

McQuaker and Emo’s chief administrative officer were also ordered to complete an online course offered by the Ontario Human Rights Commission called "Human Rights 101" and "provide proof of completion… to Borderland Pride within 30 days."

Sports columnist claims ‘cisgender women’ are the ‘real threat’ in SJSU trans controversy

28 November 2024 at 13:20

San Jose State University's women's volleyball team is in the Mountain West final after their semifinal opponent, Boise State, forfeited its semifinal match.

It was the third time the Lady Broncos forfeited against the Spartans this season, also having forfeited their two regular-season matches.

The forfeits have come amid SJSU rostering transgender player Blaire Fleming, who has become one of the conference's top players.

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Those against transgender athletes in biological girls sports have cited unfair advantages for said athletes and those teams. However, a columnist for USA Today called those who refuse to play trans athletes the "real threat."

"For all the shrieking there is about transgender women athletes, it’s the cisgender women pushing the forfeits who cost their fellow athletes opportunities to play and saddled their teams with losses," Nancy Armour posted in a column headlined "Opinion: Ruling in San Jose State volleyball case reveals farce of transgender hysteria." 

"It’s those women, not the San Jose State player, who are the real threat."

While her X account is private, Armour still received lots of flak for her take online.

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"Is your brain really this broken," Clay Travis posted.

"Women standing up for WOMEN isn’t hysteria @USATODAY it’s courageous and about time," wrote another user.

Added another, "Nancy Armour is a misogynist and hates women. I'm proud of my alma meter (sic) for not backing down even though it ends their season. All of the women of Boise State's program should hold their heads high. I hope my daughter grows up to have your courage."

Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada were among the conference teams to cancel games against the Spartans as a result of Fleming’s presence on the team. They were aware the forfeiture would result in a loss on their records, which ultimately helped SJSU secure its high seed. 

Earlier this week, federal Judge Kato Crews in Colorado, appointed by President Biden in January, denied a motion for injunctive relief in a lawsuit by college volleyball players against the conference in efforts to have Fleming not play in the tournament and their forfeit losses rescinded.

A dozen women jointly filed the suit against the Mountain West and its commissioner, alleging violations of Title IX and their First Amendment rights. Among the women are SJSU co-volleyball captain Brooke Slusser and two former Spartans as well as athletes from other Mountain West schools

Fox News' Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

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School district defends decision to ban parents who wore ‘XX’ wristbands at daughters’ game with trans athlete

23 November 2024 at 07:08

Roughly two months after barring parents who wore "XX" wristbands during a high school soccer game against a transgender athlete, a school district is confident in its decision to do so.

Anthony Foote of Bow, New Hampshire, told the New Hampshire Journal he had received a notice of trespass from Bow and Dunbarton School Districts Superintendent Marcy Kelley after he had worn armbands in support of biological girls-only sports to his daughter’s high school soccer game back in September.

Foote, his wife Nicole, Kyle Fellers, and Eldon Rash then filed a federal lawsuit against the Bow School District, Superintendent of Schools Marcy Kelley, Principal Matt Fisk, Athletic Director Mike Desilets, Bow Police Lieutenant Phil Lamy and soccer referee Steve Rossetti several days later.

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The "silent protest" at Bow High School, the lawsuit says, intended to "show solidarity" with the Bow team and oppose a policy that allowed a transgender girl to play on Plymouth's team.

Fellers and Foote testified Thursday that they hadn’t intended to harass or otherwise target a transgender player on the opposing team, but the school district said differently.

Kelley and Desilets believed that the protest wouldn't stop at just wristbands, saying they had received strongly worded emails from Foote in which he called himself a "real leader" who was prepared to take action. They also said Foote urged others to attend the game on social media.

In the days leading up to the game, another parent told school officials that she had overheard others talk about showing up to the game wearing dresses and heckling the transgender player.

"When we suspect there’s some sort of threat . . . we don’t wait for it to happen," Kelley said on Friday.

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Kelley also pushed back on the idea that the plaintiffs were simply expressing support for their daughters and the girls' teammates in general, noting that they had chosen the one game involving a transgender player to begin wearing the wristbands.

"This was organized and targeted," she said. "If we were to allow harassment, we’re liable."

A federal judge in the case, Steven McAuliffe, pushed back on the parents for repeatedly referring to the athlete as a boy on Thursday.

"You seem to go out of your way to suggest there’s no such thing as a trans girl," McAuliffe said during the hearing. 

The transgender player in question, Parker Tirrell, and another student athlete are challenging the state law that bans transgender athletes in grades 5 to 12 from playing on teams that align with their gender identity. A federal judge ruled in their case that they can play sports during the ongoing lawsuit that seeks to overturn the law.

Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law in July, has said that it "ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions." 

Fox News' Paulina Dedaj, Landon Mion, Jackson Thompson, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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