Derek Tisinger is a trustee for Kern High School District in Kern County.
He spoke with Fox News about why his district passed a resolution recently that opposes California's state policy that allows transgender-identifying boys to compete on girls' sports teams.
“I don't like the term, and it seems like the media uses the term that we're 'opposing' trans athletes. I'm all about protecting the girls and women in their sports, and I'm all about Title IX in its original intent, and that was to protect women and women's sports,” he said.
Tisinger said he saw what was happening during his time teaching back during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I asked a simple question: what can I do to try to make a difference in our schools? Amazingly enough, my pastor asked me if I'd be interested in running for school board. And that's exactly what I did. I ran for the school board in 2022.”
The resolution notes the “inherent advantages” in competitive sports for biological males over females. Protecting fairness and competitive equity for female athletes are the resolution’s goals.
The board passed the resolution by a 6-0 vote with one member absent during its August meeting.
Critics have argued the resolution conflicts with California state law, namely Education Code section 221.5, which requires that students be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including athletics, “consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”
The resolution does not conflict with the executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February.
The order declares that the United States will rescind federal funding from educational programs that it determines “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.”
It further states that the U.S. will oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports broadly, for reasons of safety, fairness, dignity, and “truth.”
For Tisinger, it’s personal because he has two granddaughters.
“For me, it's unacceptable to have a biological boy playing in girls' sports, and if it's not good enough for me, and I don't want it, then why should anybody else have to deal with the same issue? So, the people in our community and our district know that we are concerned about biological boys playing in girls' sports, and we don't want it to happen, and we'd like to see the state and federal government change that."
He said they have people within the school district who have been standing up for what they believe. He further talked about a particular male athlete playing as a girl.
“The thing of it is, this young man, he has every opportunity to play in any sport, men's sport. He can play golf, tennis, he can do whatever he wants to do, but I don't believe that he has the right to come in and displace a girl on a team and take her playing ability away, possibly taking a chance for her to get a scholarship down the road. So, for me, it's a no-brainer. It's the right thing to do, and I stand behind the, the resolution."
