A high school in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is currently under fire for considering rehiring a trans-identified tennis coach guilty of undressing in the girl’s locker room and using their washroom.
According to pro-woman news outlet Reduxx, Sasha Yates, born David, began identifying as a woman last fall. Soon after, he started using female restrooms and change rooms and, on one occasion, reportedly stripped down to a “bra and panties in the girls’ locker room” where the school’s soccer team was changing.
Despite previous reports accusing Yates of two incidents of inappropriate behavior, Michelle Smyers, a school board member, revealed to Reduxx an additional incident that had occurred.
Although the occurrence was reported by two school board members’ daughters, who play soccer for the school’s team, the other incidents were only made public after Smyers and the rest of the board were given access to the complaints filed against Yates last fall.
“I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor when I read it,” Smyers explained to Reduxx, “Because the second incident outlined where he’d gone into the same locker room and was discussing with the girls in there — talking to them about their menstrual cycles and what type of panties they like to wear.”
In addition to the students confirming that Yates is “still fully a man,” the reprimand issued to him also states that many female students admitted to being uncomfortable having a male teacher in their facilities.
Despite receiving a reprimand months earlier and getting a personal key to use a single-stall restroom, on April 12, 2022, Yates used the girls’ washroom again while a 16-year-old student was present, asserting that the law permits him to use whatever washrooms he wishes. Before she left the facilities, he followed her into the bathroom and attempted to “strike up a conversation” with her.
Unsurprisingly, the incident sparked outrage among parents. According to Steve Carbaugh, the girl’s father, the experience of being alone with Yates in the washroom made her “very uncomfortable.”
“My job as a parent is to protect my child,” explained Carbaugh. “And he had no business going into that bathroom, and his actions proved that he cannot be trusted. He went into a girls’ locker room and changed while the girls’ varsity soccer team was in there. They talked to him about it. And he went into a girls’ restroom facility. When is enough enough? He is not being penalized because of what he calls himself. He needs to be penalized because of his actions and the fact that he can’t follow directions. This is a grown man going into a bathroom with a juvenile female. That’s a problem. That’s a huge problem.”
In response to the incident, the school assured Carbaugh that Yates “would not return as the tennis coach for the following season.”
Shockingly, Yates’ name reappeared on the hiring list for the coaching position last month.
The school board held a meeting on August 7 to determine whether it should rehire Yates. After a 3-3 vote with two abstentions, the school’s lawyer warned the board to “rehire Mr. Yates to avoid the risk of litigation.”
On August 21, another meeting was held to vote about rehiring Yates and the floor was given to the public for input. Although only three speakers mentioned Yates’ use of female-only spaces, many people sympathized with him and tried to smear Smyers as a bigot.
Smyers later said that Yates’ actions were inappropriate regardless of gender identity, adding that she believes people are afraid to speak out because they don’t want to be labeled “transphobic.”
“They’ll get the reaction that I’ve gotten, and people don’t want that,” explained Smyers. “They don’t want to be labelled. They don’t want other people to think that they’re transphobic or anti-gay… they’re afraid of that. They forget that those words don’t mean anything. They’re just words. But, you know, it’s a psychological warfare.”
Currently, the tennis team does not have a coach, but discussions surrounding the decision to reinstate Yates are scheduled for September 5.
