Colorado parents refuse to stay silent as school allegedly targets girls over trans athlete in locker room

The frustrated parents of female athletes at  are speaking out over an escalating locker room dispute, demanding answers after district officials placed a transgender player on the girls' junior varsity volleyball roster.

Four Dakota Ridge parents spoke with OutKick this week as tension in the gym turned into open opposition. Following the public outcry sparked by parents like Tanna Donalson, whose daughter and seven other juniors were cut from the program, outspoken fathers are now stepping forward alongside mothers to challenge state policies that elevate gender identity over female athletics.

Families are pressing Jefferson County Public Schools (Jeffco) for accountability, refusing to back down despite reported retaliation from school and district staff against those who question the policy.

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The conflict centers on district leadership invoking state non-discrimination guidelines to open female locker rooms to the player, even as coaching staff cut more than 35 female athletes from the program, as OutKick previously reported.

OutKick observed the fallout firsthand during matches against Standley Lake on Monday and Littleton on Wednesday.

Jefferson County Public Schools, Colorado's second-largest school district, has offered only one formal remedy for female athletes who object to sharing facilities: directing them to seek private changing spaces elsewhere in the building.

"The girls' locker room is a sacred space. Whats happening at Dakota Ridge is a slow burn to that sacred space," said Josh, a Dakota Ridge father in attendance at Wednesday's match who went on the record regarding the ongoing issue.

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"The Jeffco School Interim Superintendent said that they need to respect the privacy of all students. I guess 'all students' arent the 50-plus girls on the volleyball teams that use the girls' locker room. Dakota Ridge said they will make accommodations for girls who are uncomfortable in the locker room. That should be the other way around."

show district leadership anticipated the dispute, quietly preparing weeks in advance while leaving parents and players blindsided when the athlete was placed on the roster without warning.

In an Oct. 6 email to district leadership, Dakota Ridge Athletic Director Jeff Legault warned: "I heard that meetings were held weeks ago to discuss a plan for this scenario, which is unfolding exactly the way it was predicted."

With the JV season ending, parent concerns deepened after coaching staff threatened to bench players overheard discussing the freshman athlete.

"DR staff and the district knew about this issue and kept it a secret. Its still the elephant in the room," Josh said, noting that a former coach whose daughters played for Dakota Ridge subsequently stepped away from the program.

Josh estimated varsity parents are fractured into three camps: "25% dont care or somehow think this is a fight against Trump, 50% just want this to go away, and 25% are fighting."

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Beyond locker room access, parents report a pervasive fear of