A man has been banned from events at a British Columbia school district after a mother said he interrupted a track meet to wrongly suggest her nine-year-old daughter was transgender and demanded proof she was born biologically female.
Kevin Kaardal, the superintendent of Central Okanagan Public Schools in Kelowna, B.C., says in a statement that staff at the regional track and field meet last week intervened and eventually moved the girl’s event across the field.
He says people who “accosted the student and family” were identified and steps have been taken to “formally ban them from any district property or events.”
The mother of the girl took to Facebook to say her daughter was “shaken up,” adding that the girl was born female and uses she/her pronouns, but has a pixie cut hairstyle.
B.C. Premier David Eby said on Twitter Tuesday that the incident was awful and unacceptable, and people should “continue to call out transphobia when they see it.”
Kelowna RCMP say they have received several messages from concerned citizens and are investigating the claims.
“We too share everyone’s grave concerns with discriminatory behaviour,” the detachment says.
The man who was identified by the girl’s mother on Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2023.
The Canadian Press
