Boy on girl's gymnastics team sues Education Department

NEW YORK - Ossining High School junior Cruz Vernon has been competing as a gymnast amongst all-girl teams since he was nine. But, it’s not his height that makes Cruz different:

“By me qualifying for the completion, I was taking the spot of another female athlete,” says Vernon.

For the second consecutive year, Cruz was banned from competing as a full-point-scoring-member because board members say he “creates an unfair advantage.” 

His parents are standing by Cruz who took legal action against the U.S. State Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office this month hoping to be recognized as an equal member of his gymnastics team.   

For the second consecutive year, Cruz Vernon was banned from competing as a full-point-scoring member because board members say he “creates an unfair advantage.”

“It’s really unfair as he sees a girl on a team getting acknowledgment, great for her. But here’s a boy on a girls' team and they say, 'no you can’t,” says Vernon’s mom Boneida Cruz.

In order for Cruz to qualify for sectionals, he’d have to play in a division tournament on Monday in Mahopac.

So far, his attorney says he hasn’t heard back from the State Education Department of Civil Rights.