Riley Williams is a senior at Charles R. Drew High School in Clayton County, Georgia. She is transgender, and she says her classmates support her run for Homecoming Queen. But Clayton County Public Schools has blocked her from the race.

A district spokesperson told Atlanta News First that federal Title IX rules require "gender-based distinctions" to be "based on biological sex." Yet the district has no local policy that keeps a transgender student off the Homecoming Queen ballot. According to reports, the school told Riley she could run for Homecoming King instead.

Fights over Title IX usually focus on sports and claims about competitive fairness. A homecoming crown is not a sport. It is a vote by students, for students. "There's no competitive advantage," Riley told Atlanta News First. According to reporting, there is no sign that federal officials knew about or played any role in this decision.

Riley says she is speaking up for the students who come after her. "I'm doing it for the next transgender person who decides to run," she told Atlanta News First.

The Clayton County Board of Education and the district superintendent have the power to fix this. They can reverse the decision, let students decide at the ballot box, and set clear, public rules so no student is shut out of a school tradition without explanation.

Sign the petition to tell Clayton County Public Schools to let Riley run and let her classmates choose their Homecoming Queen before homecoming arrives.