It appears the family used the most feminine picture of him they could find, or the news organization did.
He does not look as feminine at present as he does in the picture.
Posted on 10/18/2025 10:37:49 AM PDT by fidelis
QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. — An Arizona teenager is being told he can’t play on his school’s boys basketball team because of a clerical error made 14 years ago.
The family of 14-year-old Laker Jackson says the mistake was fixed months ago, but Queen Creek Unified School District won’t accept the correction.
"He's a great kid, super personality, he's really smart and funny, a ton of friends," said Laker’s mother, Becky Jackson.
"He has kids over in the house all day long," added his father, Joseph Jackson. "Anytime there's a free day he'll have a group of kids over here."
Laker Jackson is an eighth grader at Eastmark High School. His parents say he loves many things, but sports top the list.
"I like basketball and football because it's a team working together," Laker Jackson said.
He’s played on school teams before, including wrestling and flag football, but his biggest goal this year was to make the boys basketball team.
"He wasn't able to make [the team] last year," Joseph Jackson said. "I remember him coming to me and it was the first time I saw him cry about sports. He worked on it. He's been doing that the whole year. He worked his butt off, we got him a trainer, he has basketballs all over the house. It's his thing and he wants to play basketball."
Laker Jackson even joined a summer league through the district without any problems.
"Played a whole season during the summer and he was able to participate on that team and he played well," Joseph Jackson said.
That changed the day before this year’s tryouts, when he was told he could only try out for the girls' team.
"It was crazy to me," Laker Jackson said. "I was like, dumbfounded because I tried out last year and I played for the boys team in summer."
"It's disheartening," Becky Jackson said. "We've been involved in the school district for more than 20 years. It's really disheartening to be involved in something and feel like it's your community and it turns against you. It's so mind-blowing because the fact is, he's a biological male."
A 14-year-old paperwork error
According to the family, the issue began when Laker was born. His gender was incorrectly marked as female on his birth certificate — a clerical mistake, they say, that went unnoticed for years.
"When I was young it was messed up," Laker Jackson said. "Put it down as a girl but I'm a boy and it's a big complication."
"He's my youngest of six kids," Becky Jackson said. "The gender marker is not something I looked at, I looked at the time and date making sure they were right and put it in the safe. I wasn't even aware it was [marked] female until we registered [Laker] at school in the Queen Creek School District."
The family says the error was never an issue until this year. After discussions with school staff in the spring, Becky began the process to have the document corrected. Laker was examined by a board-certified doctor, and the family submitted both medical documentation and a corrected birth certificate to the district.
"It said he was examined and yes he is a biological male," Becky Jackson said.
But when Laker Jackson arrived for tryouts, his father says he was escorted out of the gym.
"Poor Laker is sitting there and I'm trying to hold tears back," Joseph Jackson said. "My kid just got escorted out in front of all his friends, what must they be thinking about him?"
District cites policy
In a statement to 12News, Queen Creek Unified School District said it must follow state and district guidelines when determining eligibility.
"Queen Creek Unified School District is committed to ensuring fairness, integrity, and equal opportunity in all athletic programs for both boys and girls," the statement said in part. "Our schools rely on a student's original birth certificate at birth to determine athletic eligibility. … Documentation such as a chromosome analysis could be considered to help support or verify eligibility in accordance with policy. … We have not yet received a response but remain open and committed to ongoing dialogue."
Family disputes district’s stance
"He's always identified as a boy," Becky Jackson said.
The family insists Laker was born biologically male and that his gender was never changed. They also say school leaders initially told them a corrected birth certificate would resolve the issue — but now that no longer seems to be the case.
"The principal did say for the rest of his time at high school, he'll have to play on a girls team," Joseph Jackson said. "Our older son is 6'5" and a linebacker at ASU. We have tall, strong kids. It's not likely Laker is going to be someone that other people want their daughters playing with or against. For me, it feels like something bigger than just my son doing what he needs to do and we're fighting against some political cause we have nothing to do with. This is a kid whose birth certificate was in error."
Dream deferred
Tryouts have now ended, leaving Laker Jackson’s hopes of playing alongside his friends dashed.
"I didn't make the team last year and it's been a year straight of me working out daily to make this team," he said. "It's a big disappointment. Last night was the final day of tryouts and the roster was released so it's impossible for me to play on the boys basketball team now. I'm sad because all my friends and I were excited to play together and now we can't."
Laker Jackson’s parents say they’re holding out hope the district will reconsider.
"This is about Laker," Joseph Jackson said. "We just want our kids to be able to participate with all the other kids, we think that's fair. We love the Queen Creek school district and the families and people who we've met. These are some of the best teachers, coaches and administrators that we've ever been around. I have six kids going to school there, four who've graduated and gone off to college. We are Queen Creek School District; we are part of it. It may not be important to us that a kid makes an eighth-grade basketball team, but for Laker it was everything in the world."
The district told the family a chromosome analysis could be used to verify eligibility, but the Jacksons say that could cost as much as $2,500 — and even then, they’re not sure it would change anything.
Conservative. Or not. School administrators are pimps, whores and incompetent fools. The system is broken and we need a Reset for education. Back to the 50s we must go.
This seems silly. If the birth certificate was corrected, why was he escorted out.
The only thing I can think is that there is concern that he WAS born a girl and he went through “the” surgery and is “now” a male, and the birth certificate was changed to reflect that.
Either these bureaucrats are especially stupid and conformist, or the trans agenda is afoot at Laker’s school. Conveniently reject the parents’ effort to correct the birth certificate so the gals can be made to get used to having boys on their team.
Seriously low IQ stuff.
We are not getting the whole story. I can imagine some things they might be leaving out
It appears the family used the most feminine picture of him they could find, or the news organization did.
He does not look as feminine at present as he does in the picture.
Skool administrators doubling down on crazy.
This doesn’t make sense and something is off. It took until he was 14 to correct the birth certificate? How did he get into elementary school, middle school, go to the pediatrician, social security card, health insurance, school screenings, etc... and not get the birth certificate fixed until now?
Is he XX or XY? It would be simple if bureaucrats weren’t idiots.
The article goes into that.
The article goes into all that.
That seems to be a pretty big clue as to what is going on.
A quick medical exam ought to make clear what plumbing he has. Or a quick test to look to see what genes he has.
Looks a bit feminine in that picture, but what is pretty clear is that s/he’s mixed race.
To me he does not look feminine in that picture.
Some people see what they WANT to see.
Good question. This from article
“The district told the family a chromosome analysis could be used to verify eligibility, but the Jacksons say that could cost as much as $2,500 — and even then, they’re not sure it would change anything.”
Why would the family question actual XX proof? Do they not want to pay the $2500?
$2,500 is a significant amount of money to a lot of people.
You are correct… In that something seems amiss here.
It should have been as simple, administrative action to say that he should be able to play in the boys team, no matter what his birth certificate said, if it was indeed an error.
This stinks to high heaven, and it sounds like me that the Leftist school administrators are using this kid as a pawn to make a political point.
It doesn’t sound to me like his parents are pushing anything other than letting him play where he should be playing.
School boards across this country have a terrible reputation, and it is because of things like this. I’m having difficulty imagining what kind of mental defective school board people or administrators are responsible for this stupidity.
I bet if they did a go fund me they could pay for it.
My family is mixed race too. What's your point?
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