James Focuses On Getting Gender Identity Talk Out Of Schools
(GROSSE POINTE WOODS) – Republican gubernatorial nominee John James (R-Shelby Township) today called for excluding transgender girls from female sports teams and removing gender identity discussions from classrooms, appearing alongside two plaintiffs challenging school policies and practices.
Speaking at the Grosse Pointe Republican Victory Center, James accused Lansing Democrats of "prioritizing activism over academics" and said children's innocence and parental rights are being "squashed and squandered."
"Let me be direct: Lansing Democrats are ramming leftist policies into our classrooms," James said.
James said he would love and fight for residents regardless of whether they are male, female, Black, white, gay or straight. He pointed to his congressional work on parental rights legislation, including an amendment he described as preventing public schools from using nondisclosure agreements to conceal information from parents.
The appearance came 22 days before Election Day and after MIRS reported that the Republican Governors Association was significantly scaling back their television advertising support for James.
Asked by The Detroit News how he would reach voters without those ads, James pointed to a "grassroots approach" and his availability to reporters. He also noted that he was able to win the Republicans' primary in August despite Oakland County business executive Perry Johnson spending more than $32 million on media.
"This is the reason I've been so open, and we've seen each other multiple times. You guys have been running all over the state covering this race, and you are the vital truth tellers to get the people the information they want," James told reporters. “People have tuned out these divisive ads."
U.S. Rep. James, Republican nominee for governor, holds a press conference. In yellow on the left is high school volleyball player Briley Lechner, who's suing her school district with her father over a transgender athlete they allege they were not informed about after she shared a locker room with them. Photo by MIRS.
Joining James were Shane Pruitt, a Grosse Pointe Woods father who challenged his exclusion from school property, and Briley Lechner, a 17-year-old volleyball player suing over her team's alleged experience competing and sharing a locker room with a transgender athlete.
Pruitt said James' team helped connect him with a constitutional attorney after the Grosse Pointe Public School System barred him from school property following his criticism of LGBTQ+ pride flags at Parcells Middle School.
In fall 2024, Pruitt requested a tour of the school, where his 10-year-old son had begun attending, after noticing rainbow flags during a back-to-school family night. He recorded the flags during an after-school visit and posted the footage on Facebook, saying, "This isn't an education thing. This is more of an agenda thing."
Pruitt said a police officer subsequently delivered a notice barring him from school property and the school displayed his photograph in its office.
"They basically tried to vilify me to the whole community for having an opinion about what I thought (my son's) environment should be as far as schooling," he said.
Pruitt filed a federal lawsuit in March. U.S. District Judge Robert J. White ruled that his criticisms were "at bottom" speech protected by the First Amendment and ordered the school district's "no trespass" restriction lifted.
Pruitt said James' assistance was the reason he participated in today's event.
"I want the guy who's going to be accountable when nobody's watching," he said.
Lechner filed a lawsuit Oct. 9 against Monroe Public Schools and the Michigan High School Athletic Association. She alleges that during a Sept. 9, 2025, volleyball match against Ann Arbor Skyline High School, her team competed and shared a locker room with a transgender athlete without being informed beforehand.
"We have received backlash, but I know at the end of the day, standing up for my teammates and other teammates and future people that are going to be in female sports is 100% worth it," Lechner said.
