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Clerical error forces Queen Creek biological boy onto girls’ basketball team
QQueens

Clerical error forces Queen Creek biological boy onto girls’ basketball team

  • October 17, 2025

QUEEN CREEK, AZ (AZFamily) — An eighth grader at Eastmark High School in the Queen Creek Unified School District was removed from basketball tryouts because of a clerical error made 14 years ago. The school said he can only play on the girls team all because of a paperwork mistake.

Sitting at his kitchen island doing homework, Laker Jackson is thinking about his time out of the classroom.

“I like the team aspect of the sport a lot,” he said. “I like to play basketball, I wrestle, and I like football a lot.”

He hits every mark.

“It’s a conference championship for East Valley, I won it all for my weight class,” Laker said.

But a mark on a piece of paper 14 years ago is now standing in his way. His mom, Becky Jackson, said there was a mix-up at the hospital the day Laker was born.

“I give him the birth certificate and they’re like, did you know this says female,” Becky Jackson said.

The mistake caused a lasting stain.

“I was like, what,” Becky Jackson said. “I was like, oh man, that’s so funny. So we come home, everyone’s laughing.”

The document said her brown-eyed biological boy was marked as a biological female didn’t cause issues until this week. That changed Tuesday, during basketball tryouts.

“They sent the athletic director of Eastmark High to physically remove Laker from the basketball tryouts in front of all of his friends, in front of the coach,” Becky Jackson said.

Laker said the incident became a topic of conversation among his classmates.

“I heard they were, from my friends, I heard they were talking about it for the entire tryout and even the next day’s tryouts because they were really confused,” Laker said.

The district sent Arizona’s Family a statement:

“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. (Policy 5-410 and ARS 15-120.02 as well as AIA bylaw 14.11.6).

In this particular case, the student has been enrolled in QCUSD since elementary school and has been registered as a biological female throughout their time in our district. The day before basketball tryouts, the parent submitted a new birth certificate and a doctor’s note indicating a gender change. Our schools rely on a student’s original birth certificate at birth to determine athletic eligibility.

This student’s parent reached out to our district and asked for help finding a solution. We informed the parent that documentation such as a chromosome analysis could be considered to help support or verify eligibility in accordance with policy.

Our team communicated this information directly to the family and expressed our willingness to work together toward a resolution. We have not yet received a response but remain open and committed to ongoing dialogue.

QCUSD values every student and family and will continue to approach all matters with compassion, transparency, and a steadfast commitment to maintaining integrity in both boys and girls athletics.”

Laker’s parents petitioned to get a corrected birth certificate, which they received — along with a note from a doctor. But still, the district says that isn’t enough.

“Now that they may consider changing it if we get chromosomal testing. They didn’t say they would. It says they may,” Becky said.

It’s a hefty price tag — and the Jacksons said the district is missing the mark altogether.

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  • Eastmark High School
  • Gender marker error
  • Hospital paperwork mistake
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  • Queen Creek
  • Queen Creek Unified School District
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