A Vermont father and daughter who were punished for speaking out against a biological male, who identifies as female, for leering at girls in their locker room have scored a US$125,000 settlement with the school district where the incident took place, reports the Daily Signal..The daughter, Blake Allen, was suspended from school and her father Travis Allen, who coaches at the school, lost his job after both spoke out against the biological male using the girls' locker room at Randolph Union High School..The incident happened in October, 2022, and according to Blake the male entered the locker room while the girls were in various stages of undress.."A male was in our locker room when volleyball girls were trying to get changed," Blake told the Daily Signal just after the incident.."And after I asked him to leave, he didn’t, and later looked over at girls with their shirts off. And it made many people uncomfortable and feel violated. And I left as soon as I could in a panic." .She told the news outlet she did not blame the trans student, but rather she called out the school board's failure in allowing the situation to happen at all..Blake was suspended for two days after she allegedly referred to the trans student as "literally a dude" in a conversation with a peer during French class, and also said "he does not belong in the girls' locker room," reports Daily Signal, adding, the school also forced her to attend to a ‘restorative circle’ with the school's ‘Equity Coordinator’ to avoid additional punishment..Her father was suspended without pay from his job as the middle school girls' soccer coach after ‘misgendering’ the trans student in a Facebook post by referring to the 14-year-old biological male as a male, responding to a woman who said she was the mother of the transgender student.."The truth is your son watched my daughter and multiple other girls change in the locker room. While he got a free show, they got violated." Travis Allen said in the post..A week after the locker room incident, the transgender student reportedly said "I'm going to f****** kill Blake Allen," which was alleged in the lawsuit, which the Allen’s launched in October..In it, they said they “were punished for expressing their view on a matter of profound public concern: whether a teenage male who ‘identifies’ as female should be permitted to change in a girls’ locker room, regardless of the discomfort experienced by the girls in that room.”.“In objecting to a male being in the room while the girls are changing, Travis and Blake each made comments underscoring that the trans-identifying student is in fact a male, including by using male pronouns,” said the lawsuit, details of which were first obtained by The Daily Signal..“Indeed, their view of the student’s maleness was foundational to their opinions on appropriate use of the locker room.”."The Vermont School Board’s Insurance Trust made the decision concerning the payment in order to cap defence expenses in what would otherwise be years of litigation," said Orange Southwest supervisory district superintendent Layne Millington, the White River Valley Herald reported, adding, “The district has made no admission of wrongdoing. Our policies are unchanged and we will continue to comply with our policies and the law.".Under the terms of the settlement, the Allens' records will be cleared of references to the disciplinary action; Travis Allen will be reinstated as a middle school soccer coach, and the district will pay the family and their attorneys $125,000.."This settlement was a huge victory for freedom of speech, not just for Blake and me, but for anyone who wants to voice their opinion on important topics," Travis told the White River Valley Herald.."The settlement of Blake and Travis Allen’s case is a resounding victory for freedom of speech," Phil Sechler, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, told the Daily Signal. "We are grateful that the school recognized it was wrong to suspend Blake from school and Travis from his coaching position simply for exercising their freedom of speech.” .“No one should lose their job or get suspended from school for voicing their opinion or calling a male a male and we are glad to see this case resolved favourably, not only for Blake and Travis, but for all students and coaches to be able to speak freely and without fear of retaliation," Sechler also said.
