Woman says public was forced to leave California forum over her 'Save Girls Sports' shirt

A California women’s sports advocate and candidate for office says organizers cleared the audience from a school board candidate forum after a dispute over her "Save Girls Sports" shirt.

Shannon Kessler, the Republican candidate for California’s 30th Assembly District and founder of Save Girls Sports Central Coast, told OutKick she was instructed to cover the shirt at a Sept. 21 forum for Lucia Mar Unified School District trustee candidates in Arroyo Grande.

The shirt also carried her name and Assembly campaign information on the back, Kessler acknowledged. She said she offered to cover that portion before eventually agreeing to conceal the front as well.

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The League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County hosted the forum with the American Association of University Women’s 5 Cities Pismo Beach Branch. Footage shows the host of the forum announcing a "violation," before instructing everyone to leave.

"From this point on, this forum has been cancelled, because of that violation, we can not proceed," he said, as seen in footage provided by Kessler. "We will ask you to leave now, yes, due to the violation. The violation that there are not to be any slogans, no campaign slogans in the forum, we can not continue."

The candidate forum continued without an audience, with participants answering previously submitted written questions on camera. The event was held at Arroyo Grande High School, rather than being a regular school board meeting.

Kessler said the confrontation began when she entered wearing the shirt and was told its message violated the event’s rules.

"It’s just a women’s rights shirt," she said.

She said organizers suggested she turn the shirt inside out in a bathroom, but she initially refused. Kessler argued that the slogan reflected her advocacy against transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports and was not specific to her Assembly campaign.

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Kessler said she then offered to borrow a jacket to cover the campaign information on the back.

"That wasn’t good enough for them. They said I had to cover Save Girls Sports, that message," she said.

According to Kessler, a woman she described as a League leader then told her the front needed to be covered because it carried an "anti-trans hateful message."

"I cannot control how you perceive it, but I don’t mean it that way," Kessler said she responded.

Kessler did not identify that organizer by name in the interview.

She also alleged that the rules were enforced differently against other attendees. Kessler said a person wearing a "Trans kids belong" shirt and attendees wearing other candidates’ campaign information were not asked to cover their clothing.

"I don’t have a problem with him wearing that shirt," she said of the attendee displaying the transgender advocacy message. "Once again, I feel that he has the right to carry that message."

The League’s published forum rules prohibit campaign signs, banners, buttons, clothing and literature inside the forum room. Its website allows campaign materials in a designated area outside the room and says organizers can refuse entry to attendees wearing clothing considered political or disruptive.

Kessler said companions wearing Save Girls Sports shirts were also instructed to cover them or turn them inside out. She said organizers threatened to call police if they did not comply.

Arroyo Grande police records list a disturbance-of-the-peace call at the high school’s address at 6:07 p.m. Sept. 21. The public log does not explain the underlying dispute or what action officers took.

Kessler said police never entered to remove her.

Instead, organizers dismissed the audience.

Footage provided by Kessler shows an exchange with a staffer about the shirt and audience members leaving the room.

Kessler said she ultimately covered the shirt with a borrowed jacket, had the signs taken away and put a campaign-branded water bottle in her purse after trustee Colleen Martin raised an objection to it.

"I had finally said, okay, look, if you’re going to eject everyone, I’ll cover the shirt. And they still canceled the meeting," she said.

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Kessler described the episode as discriminatory.

"I feel like it was viewpoint discrimination and against my First Amendment rights," she said.

The dispute follows a prolonged local debate over transgender students’ participation in girls’ sports and access to locker rooms.

OutKick reached out to the League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County; AAUW Five Cities–Pismo Beach branch President Jean Burns Slater; Lucia Mar School District communications representative Amy Jacobs; school board Vice President Colleen Martin; and the Arroyo Grande Police Department for comment.

"The Lucia Mar School District said the forum "was not a school- or District-sponsored event," explaining that the League rented the high school facilities through its facilities-use process," the district said.

"The Sept. 21 candidate forum was not a school- or District-sponsored event. The event was sponsored and conducted by the League of Women Voters, which rented Arroyo Grande High School facilities through the District’s facilities use process."

Beyond processing the facilities-use application, neither the school nor the District had a role in planning or conducting the event, establishing or enforcing event rules, or making decisions regarding the audience. Questions regarding those matters are best directed to the event organizers.

Kessler has advocated before the Lucia Mar board for restrictions based on biological sex. Her organization’s website says Save Girls Sports Central Coast was founded in March 2025, before she launched her Assembly campaign.

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In May 2025, the board voted 5-2 against placing a proposed resolution supporting Title IX and fairness in girls’ sports on a future agenda. District Superintendent Paul Fawcett said the proposal would have committed the district to advocacy directed at state and federal officials and the California Interscholastic Federation, rather than immediately changing district policies.

Kessler, who is challenging Democratic Assemblymember Dawn Addis, said her advocacy extends beyond the election and that she intends to continue pressing school officials on the issue.

"We’re not against any individuals," she said. "We’re against this state policy."