Michigan Parents Disgusted MHSAA Doesn't Warn Girls About Transgender Opponents

On Tuesday night in Michigan, the Saline High School girls' varsity volleyball team travels to Skyline High School for a match — but the drama isn't limited to what will happen on the court. 

A number of students and parents with Saline are concerned because Skyline has a transgender-identifying, biological male competing on its team, as OutKick first reported in early September. 

Two parents spoke to OutKick (on the condition of anonymity for fear of backlash against their daughters) and said they are disgusted to see their girls put in such an unfair position. It's not just because of the presence of the transgender athlete, but also because they were not informed.

"I think it’s terrible," one parent said of not being informed by their own school that they'd be facing a transgender athlete. "I need to be informed… At any point that any person under the age of 18 is put in a situation and their parents… aren’t informed of it… I think that is unbelievably wrong."

Ahead of a Michigan girls' volleyball match between Saline and Skyline, Saline parents raise safety and fairness concerns over a transgender player and question MHSAA waiver and notification policies.

(OutKick)

Both parents, citing conversations with their children, said that the Saline head coach told the players that there is a transgender player on Skyline, but also made it clear that the administration is intent on playing the match and told the girls to "be respectful." 

Saline's athletic director and volleyball coach did not immediately respond to OutKick's request for comment. 

While one of the Saline girls expressed to her parent that she wasn't entirely comfortable competing in the match, she didn't want to sit out in protest for fear of retribution from the school. 

"She is terrified of repercussions and… being the first one to say, ‘I don’t want to play,’" the parent said. "Like nobody wants to play against [him]. But the head coach is adamant that they’re going to play." 

The anger matches similar outrage from a pair of parents at Monroe High School, another Skyline opponent from earlier this season, who expressed their frustration that their daughters were forced to compete against a biological male.  

The Waiver Question

The Michigan High School Athletic Association allows transgender athletes to compete in girls' sports, provided the school secures a waiver from the governing body. That waiver only applies to postseason play, however. As part of its policy, the MHSAA is not required to inform opponents that a waiver has been granted or that girls are competing against a male athlete. 

"I think that's disgusting," one parent said about the MHSAA not being forthright about trans athletes. "Every player… has a right to know who they're playing against."

Both Saline parents told OutKick that the girls on the team briefly discussed not playing against Skyline, but the idea was quickly dismissed over concerns that they'd face repercussions from coaches or administrators. 

"My understanding is that the only people who can actually make a judgment call on this are the athletic director or the coaches, and they are both… somewhat fervently in favor of this match happening and against boycotting the match over this," one of the Saline parents said. "They were told that MHSAA and [Michigan's Southeastern Conference] are allowing it, and so they don’t have any… control over that person playing."

The other parent said their child was told by the Saline coach that the school's athletic director had been in contact with the AD at Skyline and that both administrators were in favor of playing the game. 

"My daughter's Title IX rights are not being protected," the parent said. 

Safety and Fairness

Both parents stressed their issue isn’t personal animus toward the student. It’s safety, fairness, and the example they set for their daughters.

"I am a huge fan of whatever makes you happy. Go and do it and live your life until a point where it negatively impacts other people around you," one said. "You don’t get to play as a biological male in women’s sports. You are stronger, you are faster, you are more capable simply because of your biology."

"I feel sorry for this child… but I’m a [parent] who is here to protect my daughter," the other parent said. 

Ahead of a Michigan girls' volleyball match between Saline and Skyline, Saline parents raise safety and fairness concerns over a transgender player and question MHSAA waiver and notification policies.

(Stock Photo - Getty Images)

While both parents stated they are not comfortable with their daughters competing in the match, they feel they are being put in an impossible situation. 

"I worry about safety. But I don’t worry about safety as much as I worry about setting an example for my child that if you believe strongly in something, then you need to speak out. And because of the situation we’re in, we as parents feel as though we cannot speak out," one said. 

"I’m going to show up early; I’m going to watch the warm-up; and, if I don’t feel right about it, I’m going to just pull her because I’m not going to take the risk of her getting hurt," the other said. 

Changing Sentiment on Transgender Participation in Sports

While public sentiment around transgender athletes competing in women's sports has shifted dramatically (thanks in large part to the advocacy of OutKick's Riley Gaines) Skyline and Saline are both in a very left-leaning area in Michigan. That's a major aspect as to why neither parent felt comfortable speaking out publicly. 

"Ann Arbor is so, so, so far to the left just in general, there are many people still wearing masks and with purple hair and blue hair and pink hair and all of those kind of stereotypical things," one parent said. 

"There's a drastic political leaning. Saline has kind of become a miniature Ann Arbor in that respect," the other parent added. "It leans heavily left from the school board down."

Unfortunately, those political leanings have put the safety and fairness of the girls in the area at risk. What's more unfortunate, though, is that these teenage girls – and their parents – are the ones paying the price because a group of people believe that ideology trumps reality and common sense.