A 14-year-old boy from Arizona was denied the opportunity to participate in his high school’s boys’ basketball team due to a clerical error on his birth certificate. Laker Jackson was removed from the Eastmark High School gym during tryouts on October 14, after school officials discovered the error and deemed his participation a violation of the school’s policy on “fairness and equality” in athletics.
Laker’s mother, Becky Jackson, recounted the incident, stating that the school’s athletic director was sent to remove her son from the tryouts in front of his peers and coach. The error on Laker’s birth certificate, which incorrectly identified him as female, had gone unnoticed until he registered for public school in Mesa, Arizona, last year.
The revelation was initially met with humor by the Jackson family. Becky Jackson said, “I give him the birth certificate and they’re like, did you know this says female. I was like, ‘what, oh man, that’s so funny.’ So we come home, everyone’s laughing.” However, the situation became more serious when Laker, an eighth-grader, was barred from the boys’ basketball tryouts.
Despite the error, Laker had previously tried out for the team without any issues and had even participated in a boys’ basketball league over the summer. He had also won a conference championship for the school’s wrestling team the previous year.
Becky Jackson, mother of six, admitted that she had never noticed the mistake on Laker’s birth certificate. She 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 obtained a corrected birth certificate and a doctor’s note to confirm Laker’s gender, but the school administration maintained their stance. They ruled Laker ineligible to join the boys’ team, citing the original birth certificate as the basis for their decision.
The school district stated, “Queen Creek Unified School District is committed to ensuring fairness, integrity, and equal opportunity in all athletic programs for both boys and girls. We take great care to follow state and district guidelines that support competitive equity and student well-being.”
The situation has led to Laker being offered the chance to try out for the girls’ team. However, the eighth-grader expressed his confusion and discomfort with the situation, stating, “A lot of kids do talk about me because they think it’s funny or weird. I’ve gotten pulled into the principal’s office, and I’m really confused, because he’s like, ‘I want you to be comfortable,’ but I am comfortable, if you just put me with the boys and stuff.”
The school suggested the family could undergo chromosomal testing to clarify Laker’s gender, but the cost could range from free to over $2,000. Becky Jackson remains hesitant about the school district’s proposed solution, expressing uncertainty about whether the test would guarantee a change in her son’s eligibility.