A transgender lifeguard was rejected for a position at a public pool in Jacksonville, Florida, after exposing her breasts to children during tryouts.
The applicant is a biological female who identifies as male and was seeking a job at the Cecil Aquatic Center.
In a statement about the incident, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said, "through a citizen expressing concerns, my administration became aware of an incident where a biological female trainee in a lifeguard program was topless at one of our public pools."“After consideration of the incident, I believe it is wrong for our public pools to be a place where Jacksonville families are forced to explain to their children why a person hired to protect public safety is exposing her breasts,” Curry added. “I see no reason for our lifeguards to be forced to make changes to existing rules mandating that biological females cover their chests,” he said. “Our parks and public pools are meant to be a place where families can feel safe to enjoy themselves.”
Mayor Curry added, "We shouldn’t force parents of young children to be caught in the crossfire of battles over wokeism.”
The city did not confirm the age of the topless person — but said in a statement that lifeguards as young as 15 are recruited.
"This incident happened Thursday of last week at Cecil Pool," the city said in a statement. "A transgender person, a female who identifies as male, removed their shirt exposing their bare breasts, and completed a portion of the training with 20 other trainees. While we cannot confirm the age of the individuals participating in the training, JaxParks recruits lifeguards starting at age 15. This occurred within view of several dozen children and their parents sharing the same pool at the same time."
The applicant removed their top during a training exercise in front of dozens of children and parents who "looked on in shock," a source told the New York Post.
Cielo Sunsarae, the executive director and founder of Queer Trans Project, told Action News that they believe the person should have been allowed to be topless in front of the children.
“This individual here was coming for a position to protect the children and people at the pool, they came here for one person and were denied for another reason completely not related to it,” Sunsarae said. “Kids don’t sexualize breasts, it’s the adults that are making it out bigger than what it is what is the difference if the person had top surgery or not?”
“We can’t move past this as a community without proper education, advocacy, and basic respect. No matter how much you don’t agree with someone’s ideals, just respect them,” Sunsarae said.
