A federal civil rights complaint filed by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) is putting a New York school district under scrutiny for what critics call a dangerous and ideologically driven abandonment of common sense. According to the complaint, a biologically male student was allowed to “switch genders” throughout the day and use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, without parental notification or concern for the privacy and safety of female students.
The DFI filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against South Colonie Central School District in New York, accusing it of violating Title IX by allowing a biological male student to access girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms several times while female students were undressing.
The boy reportedly identifies as a girl during the day, but switches back to identifying as a male just in time to compete on the boys’ track and field team. He attends boys’ track meets and wears a boys’ team uniform.
The complaint states that on at least four occasions, female students reported to school officials that the boy had stood and stared as they undressed. He even approached the female students and attempted to engage them in conversation while they undressed in the locker room. The girl’s complaint was apparently ignored due to the school district’s gender identity policies. Instead, the school offered alternatives such as distancing all-gender bathrooms or limited stalls, which made them late to practice.
The complaint builds on an earlier filing submitted by Kevin Martin, the father of a Colonie Central High School student, where the alleged violations occurred.
In a statement to DFI, Martin argued that his daughter and her teammates have a right to feel safe in their own locker room.
“South Colonie refused to protect them and told them to accommodate the boy instead. That’s not fairness—it’s cowardice. I never thought I’d have to file a federal complaint just so my daughter could change clothes in a girls’ locker room without being stared at by a male student,” he said.
