Judge says ex-coach was within 'protected speech' in opposing trans athlete's inclusion in girls competition
A former track coach is in a fight to get his job back, saying the school district he was fired from violated his free speech, and a federal judge in the case may agree.
John Parks is taking a legal stand after allegedly being fired from Lake Oswego High School for sending a letter to Oregon state officials concerning laws related to transgender athletes.
The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) says students can compete based on their "consistently asserted gender identity."
Additionally, the OSAA rules state "once a transgender student has notified the student's school of their gender identity, the student shall be consistently treated as that gender for purposes of eligibility for athletics and activities, provided that if the student has tried out or participated in an activity, the student may not participate during that same season on a team of the other gender."
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In May, Parks wrote a letter to the OSAA encouraging the state to adopt a transgender athlete policy similar to World Aquatics by creating an open division where "all sex and gender identities" are welcome to compete. He also sent letters to state Sen. Rob Wagner, including one after Oregon's state championships. In the letters, Parks argued that state's laws, as currently written, do a disservice to girls sports.
In a hearing on Friday, Parks' lawyer said the district's decision to fire Parks after the email was a "violation of his free speech," and he should "be restored to his job," according to Oregon Live.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon said during a hearing he believed the email "[fell] within protected speech made by a private citizen."
Parks is seeking a court order to return to his job as the school's track coach and a special education assistant while the legal case remains ongoing. The district, however, says he was not fired. It says his temporary contracts expired, and the school was not required to extend them.
Buck Dougherty, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement in July, "Coach Parks was retaliated against, falsely accused of discriminatory behavior, denied an appeal and fired — just for exercising his constitutional right to free speech as a private citizen."
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' departure.
Transgender runner Aayden Gallagher of McDaniel High School won the Oregon 6A 200-meter state title by two-tenths of a second and defeated one of Parks' runners in another race. Lake Oswego, with Parks coaching, won the team state championship.
Fox News' Lindsay Kornick, Ryan Gaydos, and Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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