ACLU Expands Suit for Girls’ Sports Programs

The ACLU is expanding a discrimination lawsuit against Los Angeles, saying girls throughout the city have unequal access to publicly run sports programs, the group announced Tuesday.

Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union said a six-month investigation revealed the city offers girls fewer softball opportunities--in some cases, none--at city Recreation and Parks Department facilities, compared to boys.

The additional complaint will be amended to the ACLU’s April lawsuit, which charged that the city denied the West Valley Girls Softball League a permit for permanent facilities at city-run parks, while granting long-term leases to boys leagues at top-notch fields in the same neighborhoods.

Steven L. Soboroff, president of the city’s Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners, said the latest complaint was based on nothing more than ACLU grandstanding.

“I think the ACLU finds this issue a high-visibility issue for themselves, irrespective of the facts behind it,” Soboroff said.

The ACLU’s most recent investigation compared participants and offerings at parks throughout the city. The advocacy group found thousands of boys participating in baseball but only a fraction of that number of girls on softball teams.

Citywide, 22,511 boys play Recreation and Parks-sponsored baseball, while only 1,905 girls play on city softball teams, according to the ACLU.

The ACLU found several neighborhood parks that aggressively recruit boys for baseball teams but do not offer girls softball.

But, Soboroff said, where there are no programs, it is because there is not the demand, and the department takes responsibility for the lack of demand and is working hard to change it.