Former track and field coach John Parks is taking a legal stand after allegedly being fired from Lake Oswego High School for sending a letter to Oregon state officials concerning laws related to transgender athletes.

The Liberty Justice Center revealed in a press release on Thursday that it has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the Lake Oswego School District and the Lake Oswego School Board for unfairly terminating Parks last month for expressing his opinion on transgender athlete policies.

Parks remained defiant, telling Fox News Digital, “I’m in the right here.” 

Senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center Buck Dougherty said in a statement, “Coach Parks was retaliated against, falsely accused of discriminatory behavior, denied an appeal, and fired—just for exercising his constitutional right to free speech as a private citizen.” 

Dougherty added, “His proposal was a common-sense solution to a growing national debate. We are proud to stand up for his constitutional rights through this lawsuit, and we look forward to holding the District and the Board accountable for this egregious violation of free speech and due process.”

HIGH SCHOOL COACH FIRED AFTER PUSHING TO CHANGE STATE TRANS ATHLETE LAW: ‘VILIFIED’ FOR STANDING UP FOR GIRLS

In May, Parks wrote a letter to the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) encouraging the state to adopt a transgender athlete policy similar to World Aquatics by creating an open division where “all sex and gender identities” are welcome to compete. 

The Liberty Justice Center said that Parks was then accused of violating the district’s harassment policy when OSAA member Marshall Haskins filed a complaint accusing him of discriminating against a transgender student.

After an investigation, the school district ruled that the policy was violated and terminated Parks’ contract. He was also denied a request for an appeal.

The lawsuit will be seeking money damages, restoration of Parks’ old position and a declaration saying that the school district violated his First Amendment rights.

John Parks and Riley Gaines on OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls Podcast” discussing his termination after sending a letter to OSAA regarding transgender athletes. (OutKick)

FORMER HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD COACH JOHN PARKS TALKS FIRING AMID PUSH FOR TRANSGENDER ATHLETE LAW CHANGE

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Parks emphasized the harm and unfairness of allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ events for both the female and transgender runners.

“It puts [trans athletes] in a position where they can’t feel fully celebrated because they know that they’re impacting the female athletes in a way that the female athletes often and mostly do resent. And so that has to be spared. For them to be able to compete, there should be a separate category so that they can be celebrated and not vilified and not booed,” Parks said.

He added to Fox News Digital, “I want them to not have to face that. I want them to be able to enjoy the love of running without the stress of having to be competing in that division where they’re going to face that.”

Parks argued that the current policy is unfair to girls, with a large number of people agreeing.

Parks is seeking the restoration of his old job at Lake Oswego High School. (Getty Images)

“Everybody that I have spoken to has been 100% supportive. There’s been no negative reaction from anybody anywhere regarding my statements at all. There seems to be a general consensus that I’m in the right here,” Parks said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Lake Oswego School District for comment, but did not immediately hear back. 

The San Francisco Giants have been quiet during the trade deadline, but that hasn’t stopped many teams around baseball from getting better. The Milwaukee Brewers are the latest team to do so, trading for right-handed pitcher Frankie Montas.

In return, the Cincinnati Reds will get Joey Wiemer and former Giants pitcher Jakob Junis, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Junis pitched for San Francisco in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, appearing as a starter in 17 of his 23 appearances in 2022. In his second year, he was used mostly out of the bullpen, starting in just four of the 40 games he saw action on the mound.

He pitched well in 2023, posting a 3.87 ERA and striking out 96 in 86.0 innings pitched. In the 26.0 innings he’s thrown this season, Junis has been even better, posting a 2.42 ERA.

The right-hander will now go to the Reds, where he could be a big piece in their bullpen.

One thing the Giants need to be keeping in mind is the return for some of these players. Outside of this trade, multiple players have been dealt for packages that seem outrageous. The Houston Astros traded for Yusei Kikuchi, moving Jake Bloss, Joey Loperfido, and Will Wagner in the deal.

If San Francisco can get that type of package back for some of their top trade assets, they need to be on the phone. While they have a chance to still make the postseason, teams are overpaying like never before for upgrades.

Why not take advantage of that right now?

BOULDER — To me, betting on Pat Shurmur to win the Big 12 sounds an awful lot like betting on Mr. Toad to win the Brickyard 400.

But America sure loves an impulse buy, so as of last week, per BetMGM, the school getting the most action in terms of winning the league wasn’t favorites such as Kansas State (+350) or Utah (+350). Oh, no. It was Deion Sanders and the Buffs (+3,000), with 30% of the bets on CU winning it all.

Have y’all lost your darn minds?

“We’re not waiting for Year 3 to win,” assistant head coach/running backs coach Gary “Flea” Harrell said Monday as the Buffs opened preseason camp. “We’re not waiting for midseason … it has to happen now. So (Sanders) has that ‘now’ approach. So every day he comes into work, his mentality, his thought process, his message, his philosophy is the same. He (doesn’t) deviate from it. That’s why he’s Deion Sanders.”

Hey, it’s your scratch. Just know that when it comes to Coach Prime, it feels as if only the computers can be neutral — and even your favorite AI is hedging its digital bets.

ESPN’s Football Power Index has the Buffs finishing 6-6. CU reaches six wins, usually the minimum for bowl eligibility, on 53.2% of the FPI’s simulations. TeamRanking.com’s CPUs are almost in complete agreement on the record (6-6) and odds of a bowl (53.5%).

Can the Buffs win nine or 10 games this fall with Shurmur, who crashed and burned as Broncos offensive coordinator, calling plays? Probably not. Unless these five things happen first.

1. Shedeur Sanders stays upright. (Duh.) And in one piece.

Can you order an entirely new offensive line the way you’d order a replacement air filter on Amazon? We’re about to find out.

For context, the top 12 teams in the final College Football Playoff rankings last fall gave up, on average, 1.61 sacks per game. CU surrendered 4.7. Cutting that number by even half — 2.5-ish, 2.4-ish sacks per game — would feel like a major victory in and of itself.

Heck, if the Buffs can manage that, forget giving Phil Loadholt a raise. Give that man a Nobel Prize.

2. Shedeur Sanders is the best QB in America. Hands down.

Deion says he is. Deion says a lot of things. Talk to Deion long enough, you’ll think that tailback Charlie Offerdahl — and we love Charlie, don’t get us wrong — is the next Christian McCaffrey.

What impressed the skeptics and scouts last fall was Shedeur’s actions on the field. Not his dad’s words.

We know the younger Sanders can win a one-possession game by himself, as long as there’s a sliver of time left on the clock. The next confidence test Shedeur fails will be his first. He’s got that Elway Quality already — the ability to drive the length of the field pretty much by himself in the clutch.

But can he stay healthy? Can he get rid of balls and give up on a play rather than hang on too long and get lit up? Can he sacrifice “hero ball” moments for the sake of the offense? Or for his well-being?

3. Travis Hunter plays in double-digit games.

The book on Hunter coming out of Jackson State was that he was coming to Boulder with almost the whole package, all neatly wrapped in a bow: NFL closing speed, NFL wheels, NFL instincts, NFL hands, NFL hops, NFL vision … and problems staying on the field. If you hit him hard enough, they whispered, he might be out weeks.

That’s pretty much what happened.

The nation’s former No. 1 recruit played in eight games in 2022 and nine last fall with the Buffs. Now conventional wisdom would say to limit his snaps the way you cap a star pitcher’s innings in order to try and keep Hunter fresh for November and December.

Couple of problems with that. One is that we already know what Deion thinks of “conventional wisdom,” unless he’s hearing said wisdom from a friend, mentor or former coach. Two, Hunter’s not playing in any bowl game that isn’t a playoff tilt anyway, given his NFL draft stock. So why stick a snap count on a player who’s shifting into draft mode after the first week of December? Because he’s your best player, that’s why.

4. Buffs are at least 3-1 after four weeks.

September is sneaky. A little birdie told me North Dakota State — with 27 seniors and 10 sixth-year returnees — has the heart, but not the horses to run with a Prime roster. Although when has that ever stopped the Bison before?

That said, the last time CU had a major talent advantage over an opponent was the Stanford game last October. We all know how that one ended up.

Assuming CU comes out blazing the way it did at TCU last fall, you’ve got to nail at least a split from two of the toughest, and certainly most emotionally raw, road games of the season: At Nebraska on Sept. 7; at CSU on Sept. 14. Sweep those and you’re ranked again. (Hiya, Nick Saban!) Split them and you’re still probably in pretty good shape — assuming No. 2 and No. 12 are as well.

The four roadies after Sept. 22 — at UCF, at Arizona, at Texas Tech and at Kansas in Kansas City — are all coin flips, so long as the stars are healthy (and aligned). While K-State (Oct. 12), Utah (Nov. 16) and Oklahoma State (Nov. 29) won’t be picnics, at least they’re at Folsom.

5. Pencil Pat has to open it up.

Memo to Shurmur: This ain’t Iowa ball, brother. The Buffs went 4-3 last season when throwing it at least 40 times; 0-5 when they didn’t. They were 3-2 with a 300-yard passer, 1-6 without one. Could Pencil Pat screw this wild ride up, even with two top 10 draft picks to play with? Don’t bet against it.

Originally Published: July 29, 2024 at 8:15 p.m.