Trans cheerleader kicked off team, charged after alleged assault on female teammate
A 25-year-old biological male who identifies as a woman was forced to leave a Texas cheerleading camp after allegedly choking a female teammate.
The trans-identified cheerleader, Averie Chanel Medlock, was kicked out of the camp held at Ranger College last month in Eastland County, Texas.
Police responded to the campus on July 21 following reports of a dispute among members of the cheer team, according to Fox News.
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A since-deleted Facebook post alleged that a teammate said Medlock was a "man with a penis" and that a man should not be on the cheerleading team.
"Well guys I'm officially retired as a cheerleader as of last night at 5:30 AM. A girl on the team was being very disrespectful and told me I am a MAN with a PENIS and that [guys] should not be on the team," Medlock wrote.
"I stood up for myself and she called her mom and dad because she was scared because I [stood] up for myself. Her father said 'she still has testosterone and a penis and I will kill anyone who comes after my daughter.'"
The father later identified himself as Mike Jones, and posted a comment on Facebook addressed to Medlock, claiming that at "no time did I ever say anything about your race or your gender."
"I ask you what you would have done when receiving a phone call at 1 o'clock in the morning from your daughter stating they had locked themselves in the room with other girls," Jones wrote.
In response, Medlock posted a video to Facebook with a caption reading, "This is video evidence that I did not assault her" and urged Jones to "get [his] facts straight."
Medlock, who was kicked out of the camp and cited by police for misdemeanor assault, later denied the allegations of misconduct.
Medlock told The New York Post that there "was no physical contact at all" and was "just trying to talk it out as an adult." Medlock claims to have not been questioned by the college before being removed from the cheer team.
Eastland County District Attorney Brad Stephenson told The New York Post that there was an assault and that cops handled the incident appropriately.
"There definitely was an assault and it could've ostensibly been charged as a class A misdemeanor, but I think they appropriately charged it as a class C misdemeanor," Stephenson was quoted as saying.
The incident comes amid growing debate over whether trans-identified athletes who are biologically male should be allowed to participate in women's sports.
The debate has gained national traction after swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male formerly known as William, won the NCAA women's championship in March in the women's 500-yard freestyle.
Thomas edged out the second-place finisher by nearly two seconds.
At least 18 states have passed legislation to prohibit or strictly limit transgender participation to the athlete's birth sex, including Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
