Despite living in the deeply red state of Florida, Jessica Norton faced no opposition when she supported her trans daughter’s participation on the girl’s school volleyball team. But with the rise in anti-trans rhetoric and policies from the state government, she became a public figure, the target of a heavily publicized culture war, and the subject of disciplinary action at work.

Norton worked as an information management specialist at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida. But last year, the Broward County School Board announced an investigation into Norton, claiming she had violated the state’s ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports. The investigation quickly led to a media firestorm.

“I’ve been through the wringer as far as this investigation,” Norton said in a conversation with The Advocate. “That day, I was told that the investigation was going to be 100 percent confidential and that nobody would know what was going on unless I told them. I left [my daughter] at school because they promised me she would be safe.

“Within two or three hours of me being home, it was on the news, along with my name and the other people involved. The school board did a press conference with the superintendent, and you know, it was on every news outlet in South Florida and apparently everywhere else.”

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Florida’s so-called Fairness in Women’s Sports Act was passed in 2021. But although the girls’ volleyball team knew Norton’s daughter was trans, there were no issues when she joined.

“There’s a lot of evidence that her daughter’s teammates appreciated her on the team,” said Norton’s attorney Jason Starr, the HRC’s director of litigation. “They wanted her to be a member. All we know is that a board member, a school board member who was appointed by Gov. DeSantis, claimed to receive an anonymous tip that he called in to the district, which launched the investigation.”

“There was no harm to any children,” Norton said. “The only child that was harmed in this entire investigation was my own child.”

Despite the Biden administration’s extension of Title IX nondiscrimination rules to transgender students, a federal judge has permitted Florida’s trans athlete ban to remain in effect while it undergoes legal challenges. Both Norton and her daughter have signed onto a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban.

Now Norton is also defending her position at school through a separate legal challenge. For now, she has been removed from her position and given a ten day suspension, but she will keep her long term employment with the school. Her daughter, meanwhile, has since transferred to the all-remote Florida Virtual School.

Norton remains a fierce defender for her daughter’s right to a full high school experience. “If she can’t play these sports, like, what is she gonna do?” she said. “This is her life. This is her socialization and her friendships revolve around sports.”

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