Former high school coach says First Amendment rights were violated in his fight to protect women's sports
John Parks, a former track and field coach at Lake Oswego High School in Oregon, is taking legal action in the latest move to get his job back.
Attorneys representing John Parks, a track and field coach in Oregon, filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the school district where he previously worked.
The Lake Oswego School District, which oversees Lake Oswego High School, and the Lake Oswego School Board fired Parks last month after he sent a letter to state officials about laws related to transgender athletes.
Parks spoke to Fox News Digital about his decision to pursue legal action and what outcome he hopes to see.
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"The main point of [filing the lawsuit] is to drive home the point that we need protection for female athletes, that's first and foremost. I think we have to force action at the state level. So, in cases like this, we will get guidance from the International Olympic Committee and the other international sports federations, and our U.S. track and field federations [etc.] can offer [direction as well]," Parks said.
"And the other is: I want my job. I didn't do anything wrong."
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Parks added that those involved in the decision to remove him from his coaching position rushed to judgment.
"They didn't consider that you can't have arguments on this kind of issue with only one side of political speech, as the Supreme Court has ruled many times," Parks said. "I have to be able to be free to argue for female athletes because that's something I'm dedicated to because I lost a sister a few years ago. She was a federal judge, but she fought [throughout her career] for female sports rights, and she was a product of Title IX. She came through middle school. Title IX had just been passed into … law, and so it afforded her the chance to be a runner herself and be a college scholarship [athlete]."
Parks pushed back against the idea that he should simply pursue a coaching opportunity at a different school.
"Well, I could do that," he said in reference to moving on from Lake Oswego High School. "But the kids on this team, I had a pro bono attorney that stepped up that was a parent on my team. Many other parents on the team have been steadfast and supporting me."
"The Liberty Justice Center has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against an Oregon school district on behalf of a high school track and field coach who was fired for proposing an open division for transgender athletes to compete in, to ensure fairness for all student athletes," according to a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
Parks explained some of the tension he noticed leading up to the women's 400-meter event at Oregon's state championships in May.
"Leading up to the state meet, I was concerned about the situation with the transgender athlete and how it was going to impact my girls. I had girls on the team that were anxious, parents that were angry. So, I speak to my AD, just asking [if I can] contact the OSAA (Oregon Student Activities Association) and say that this is something that shouldn't be happening, not just my girls but to all the girls," Parks told Fox News Digital.
"I just felt compelled to write a letter, [and] as I learned later, many dozens or hundreds more did, and [I] was concerned enough to just write a letter that spoke from my heart [about] how it affected my team and how it affected coaching at the elite level, college level, international level and Olympic level where I've had athletes. And also how it impacted personally on my team, where I had a transgender athlete that was competing all season and the struggles that they went through."
Parks previously told KATU that he addressed two letters to a high-ranking official with the Oregon Student Activities Association.
He also sent letters to state Sen. Rob Wagner, including one last month after Oregon's state championships. In the letters, Parks said the state's laws, as currently constructed, do a disservice to girls' sports.
Parks appeared to reference the International Olympic Committee's hormone testing mandates. The requirements for hormone testing vary across different sports leagues, committees and organizations.
"The OSAA competition rules need to be aligned with what the rest of the world competes under," Parks wrote in the letter addressed to Wagner. "My proposal to encourage transgender participation is to offer an open division that is so named so it doesn't identify or discriminate but offers an opportunity to participate."
Parks appeared on OutKick's "Gaines for Girls" podcast, which is hosted by former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines, in June.
During the interview, Parks raised concerns over laws that offer protection for athletes who seek to compete against the gender they personally identify with, but he also said he is not calling for the complete exclusion of transgender athletes.
"All I was advocating for … [was] an open division that would allow competition so that the fans could cheer the transgender athletes separately and recognize and reward their efforts," Parks told Gaines, "but not take away from the female athletes that were naturally born females that are in a whole different competition level."
Parks reaffirmed his position on Thursday and also said he has received overwhelming support since his dismissal from the school.
"One hundred percent supportive, not one person has said one negative thing to me. I have not even seen [negative feedback] posted anywhere on social media. I think everybody begins to get the argument when I discuss it, because they are coming at it from a passionate thing to support girls but also caring about transgender athletes. Because we'll get more transgender participation if they have their own categories where they don't feel like they're displacing girls from the medal stand, from the victory stand."
The full announcement can be read below.
A Lake Oswego School District spokesperson previously confirmed that Parks was no longer employed by the district. The school district stopped short of going into the circumstances surrounding Parks' separation.
"We do not discuss personnel matters," Mary Kay Larson, director of communications for the Lake Oswego School District, said in a statement.
Buck Dougherty, an attorney with the Liberty Justice Center, explained the next steps in the legal process and reaffirmed the hope that Parks will be able to return to his job.
"The lawsuit has been filed against the Lake Oswego School Board and Lake Oswego School District. We anticipate that it is possible that we could amend the complaint. We're still gathering additional facts. But after this, they will be served formally with a complaint, and then we will follow up shortly thereafter, probably in the next few weeks. We will file a motion for preliminary injunction," Dougherty told Fox News Digital.
"One of the areas of relief that we're looking for is for [Parks'] position as head track coach to be restored."
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