Florida mom says trans daughter’s ‘light was extinguished’ by cruel school sports investigation
Hundreds of students at Monarch High School walked out in protest against the treatment of the trans athlete in December 2023 (7 News Miami/ YouTube)
Jessica Norton, a volleyball coach who let her trans daughter play in the high school girls’ team in Florida, has claimed that investigators destroyed the teenager’s life and education.
Norton said an anonymous tipster told a Broward County school board member in November that her 16-year-old daughter was playing in the girls’ team at Monarch High School, in Coconut Creek.
Under Florida state law, introduced by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, transgender student-athletes are barred from playing in school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Following the tip-off in December 2023, an investigation was launched and Norton was suspended from her role as an information management specialist. She also volunteered as a volleyball coach but now faces being fired.
Jessica Norton fights her case
Speaking to detectives, Norton said her child had no advantage over other girls on the team, and on Tuesday (18 June), she told school district officials that the investigation had ruined her child’s life.
She said her daughter had been thriving at school, even becoming homecoming princess and class president, before she was forced to leave Monarch, and now only attends online, the Daily Mail reported.
“They destroyed her high school career and her lifelong memories,” the feisty mother said. “I saw the light in my daughter’s eyes gleam with future plans of attending prom, participating in and leading senior class traditions, speaking at graduation and going off to college.
“And I watched as that light was extinguished.”
The Nortons are now plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that aims to block DeSantis’ Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.
Last year, students in The Sunshine State staged a walk-out in support of the transgender student athlete.
The protest followed the “reassignment” of members of staff after a transgender student was allowed to play on a girls’ team. Protesters could be heard chanting “Trans lives matter” and dozens were photographed holding signs that read “Let her play.”
