Students on the girls volleyball team at a Vermont high school have been banned from using their own locker room after objecting to a transgender student using the space.
The students at Randolph Union High School were reportedly banned by school officials after some objected to a biological male changing in the same room with them.
One of the team’s members told WCAX-TV that the transgender student made an inappropriate comment as the team was changing.
It was reported that school officials emailed parents to tell them an investigation would be conducted into whether the transgender student was harassed.
Blake Allen, one of the volleyball players, said “It’s a huge thing … everyone’s asking, ‘Why aren’t you allowed in the locker room?'”
It was not revealed what the student allegedly said in the locker room.
Vermont’s state law says students can play sports and use the locker which corresponds to their gender identity.
“They want all the girls who feel uncomfortable to get changed in a single-stall bathroom, which would take over 30 minutes,” Allen explained. “Where, if one person got changed separately, it would take a minute, like no extra time.”
Allen said the problem isn’t the transgender athlete’s presence on the team, but in the locker room where they change.
“There are biological boys that go into the girl’s bathroom, but never a locker room,” she said.
The school sent an email to the families of the players, saying the school has “plenty of space where students who feel uncomfortable with the laws may change in privacy.”
“My mom wants me to do this interview to try to make a change,” Allen told WCAX-TV.
“I feel like for stating my opinion — that I don’t want a biological man changing with me — that I should not have harassment charges or bullying charges. They should all be dropped,” she continued.
Lisa Randolph, Randolph High School co-president, said disciplinary action that aligns with the school’s rules will be applied when policies are violated.
Randolph noted that students’ safety is the “district’s top priority.”