Oregon high school girls tennis coach resigns, cites Title IX’s transgender-related policy

The debate over whether it is fair to allow transgender females to compete in sports against athletes of the same gender they identify with continues to spark outrage. Whether about high school, college or the professional level, the discourse has been fervent.

In April, the Biden administration rolled out new Title IX regulations to expand the meaning of sexual discrimination to include gender identity that would prevent schools and colleges from banning transgender athletes. Under the department’s proposed rule, no school or college that receives federal funding would be allowed to impose a “one-size-fits-all” policy that categorically bans transgender students from playing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Such policies would be considered a violation of Title IX.

This week, Dave Brown, a high school girls tennis coach in Oregon, cited the Title IX policy in a social media video announcing his decision to step down from his position.

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A tennis ball on the grass. David Brown previously coached the girls tennis program at Canby High School in Oregon. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“This week, I resigned from my position as the head girls varsity tennis coach at Canby High School,” Brown captioned the post.

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Brown added that he had difficulty making the decision to abruptly end his coaching tenure, and argued that the Title IX policy put “women at risk.”

Dave Brown says he is stepping down from his position as tennis coach at Canby High School

“[I]t was not an easy decision to make. I love coaching, and have enjoyed every moment of working with these girls. But I can no longer stand by and watch as their dreams are shattered, and their opportunities are taken from them. I can no longer stand by silently, while all the work that was put into title 9 is disregarded. I cannot support policies that put the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health of women at risk.”

Shortly after the aforementioned Title IX proposal was made public, the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, which is a coalition of lawyers, subject-matter experts, parents, civil rights groups and former education officials, penned a letter to US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. The letter argued that the Biden administration’s additional anticipated regulations would “unfairly” penalize female athletes.

According to Canby’s longtime weekly newspaper, the Canby Herald, Brown ran for the Newberg School Board in 2018.

Brown had coached the Newberg boys tennis team for 20 years but felt challenged to get more involved in his community. The publication reported that Brown has also coached basketball and football. He was a tennis player during his sophomore year in high school and began teaching lessons when he was a student at Portland State University.

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“I’ve always really liked Canby,” Brown told the Canby Herald in 202 when he spoke about landing the varsity girls tennis coaching role. “My kids played against Canby in football, basketball, tennis, everything. The Canby thing was attractive, and on my bucket list I always wanted to coach girls at the varsity level, and I never got the opportunity. I coached girls in the summertime, but never as a team. I wasn’t looking for this, and it just popped up out of nowhere.”

Fox News Digital contacted Brown for more details surrounding his resignation but did not receive a response as of the time of publication. 

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

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