COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – The mother of a transgender student-athlete at Broward’s Monarch High School released a statement to Local 10 News Tuesday amid the fallout over a district investigation into her participation on the girls’ volleyball team.
Jessica Norton, an information management technician at the school, is the mother of the student. She was among a group of staff members, including the school’s principal, who were reassigned as the district conducts its probe into the matter.
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News of the staff shakeup broke on Nov. 27. Students staged walkouts at the Coconut Creek school in support of the student and staffers over the following two days.
Norton issued her statement through a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group.
“The outpouring of love and support from our community this past week has been inspiring, selfless and brave. Watching our community’s resistance and display of love has been so joyous for our family — the light leading us through this darkness. I want everyone to know that we see you, and we are so grateful for you,” Norton said. “A lot of things were taken from my family this week — our privacy, sense of safety, and right to self-determination.”
The statement continued, “There is a long history in this country of outing people against their will — forced outing, particularly of a child, is a direct attempt to endanger the person being outed. We kindly ask everyone to respect our family’s privacy, and to give our family the space we need to speak to our experience on our own terms and timeline.”
In 2021, the Florida State Legislature passed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which specifies athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex. Gov. Ron DeSantis later signed the bill into law.
Broward Superintendent Peter Licata said last Tuesday that the investigation into the staffers will be fair.
“I can’t speak much to the investigation,” Licata said. “I do want to make sure that you understand that it’ll be a fair investigation. The state has been informed. We also have to understand that social media is not the court. It’s not the jury.”
He added, “It’s an indication that we want to make sure that when we investigate it properly and appropriately again, we want to make sure we do this right. Nobody’s guilty of anything at this point. That’s what an investigation is for.”
A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education said last Tuesday that the state is aware of the probe.
“As soon as the Department was notified that a biological male was playing on a girls’ team in Broward County, we instructed the district to take immediate action since this is a direct violation of Florida law,” the statement reads. “We expect there will be serious consequences for those responsible.”
Family filed lawsuit
In a federal lawsuit filed against the state in June 2021, court documents reveal that the student-athlete “identified as a girl and even in pre-school she presented as female” and was “diagnosed with gender dysphoria at age seven.”
“At age 11, at the recommendation of her endocrinologist, she began hormone blockers to stop testosterone,” the lawsuit states.
It says she’s “receiving estrogen and as she continues through puberty, will develop as a girl.”
The lawsuit also said the girl has a lifelong love of sports.
Jennifer Solomon, who works for Equality Florida, knows the student and her family.
“I would say this is an extraordinary, ordinary family,” Solomon said. “We have a governor that unleashed a mob on this family, but all families of LGBTQ kids are feeling the hurt.”
A federal judge sided with the state in the family’s lawsuit, but gave them the ability to refile it.