Transgender athletes have all but disappeared from women’s collegiate sports since President Trump brought down the hammer three months ago, but high school sports are another story entirely.
More than a dozen male-born competitors continue to excel in girls’ scholastic sports, winning titles and roster spots in defiance of Mr. Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order issued Feb. 5.
They include Liaa Rose, a senior at Ida B. Wells High School in Oregon, who won the girls’ high jump last weekend at the 6A Portland Interscholastic League Championships, the athlete’s ninth win in 10 starts since the start of the outdoor track season in March.
How? Officials governing school sports in Democrat-led jurisdictions like Oregon have refused to comply with the White House directive, arguing that their state laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity supersede Mr. Trump’s executive order.
“We know school leaders fear a loss of funding, but we are still required to follow current state and federal law,” said the Oregon School Boards Association in a March 5 statement. “It is important to remember that executive orders and ‘dear colleague’ letters are not laws and do not require schools to eliminate programs they have been lawfully operating.”
The states have also rejected the Trump administration’s contention that their transgender-eligibility policies violate Title IX, the federal civil-rights law banning sex discrimination in education, by allowing biological males to compete in female sports and use female locker rooms.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey called the argument “legally dubious” in his May 8 response to the administration’s lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education.
Transgender athletes are also competing against girls in two red states, albeit under court orders. Judges have allowed two transgender students in New Hampshire and one in West Virginia to compete in girls’ sports as their lawsuits against their state laws proceed through the court system.
Meanwhile, the transgender-athlete debate has been mostly quiet on the college level. A day after Mr. Trump signed the order, the NCAA overhauled its eligibility criteria to require students to compete based on sex at birth.
Democrats argue that transgender athletes are too few in number to pose a serious threat to girls’ competition, but women’s sports watchdogs like HeCheated.org have tracked more than a dozen still competing in girls’ scholastic sports despite the executive order.
In addition to Oregon’s Rose, the transgender athletes gaining the most attention include:
• California: AB Hernandez, Jurupa Valley High School junior, won the girls’ triple jump and long jump, and took fourth in the high jump, on Saturday at the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section’s Masters Meet.
• California: Lily Norcross, a sophomore at Arroyo Grande High School, has competed at meets in numerous track-and-field events, including the 100, 200, 400, long jump and relays.
• Connecticut: Lizzy Bidwell, a senior at Conard High School, placed first in the girls’ long jump and triple jump at an April 8 meet after winning a state title last year, but has not competed since, according to Athletic.net.
• Illinois: A seventh-grade student at Jefferson Junior High School in Naperville won multiple girls’ track races, prompting Awake Illinois to file a federal complaint May 19 alleging violations of Title IX.
• Maine: Soren Stark-Chessa, a junior at the North Yarmouth Academy, won the girls’ 800-meter and 1600-meter races at a May 16 meet between six schools, setting a season record in both events, as per Athletic.net. The academy is a private school but competes against public schools.
• Maine: Katie Spencer, a Greely High School sophomore, won the girls’ pole vault at the Feb. 17 Class B indoor state championships.
• Minnesota: Marissa Rothenberger, star pitcher for the Champlin High School varsity softball team, has led the school to an 18-2 record and #2 ranking in Class 4A softball headed into next week’s state championships.
• New Hampshire: Parker Tirrell, a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School, joined the girls’ soccer team after a judge temporarily blocked the state’s law requiring students to compete based on sex at birth. Iris Turmelle, a freshman at Pembroke Academy, was also cleared to try out for girls’ sports.
• Oregon: Ada Gallagher, a junior at McDaniel High School, set season records with first-place finishes in the 200-meter and 400-meter races at a March 19 meet.
• Pennsylvania: Luce Allen, a Plymouth Whitemarsh High School senior, failed to qualify for the state championships after placing 12th in the 200-meter race at the May 17 district finals, despite three first-place finishes at the distance earlier in the season.
• Washington: Veronica Garcia, a senior at East Valley High School, has notched seven victories in the 400-meter girls’ race this season after winning the event last year at the state championships.
• West Virginia: Becky Pepper-Jackson, a freshman at Bridgeport High School, took eighth in the shot put and third in the discus at the West Virginia state girls’ track and field championships after a judge allowed the athlete to compete in girls’ sports pending the outcome of a lawsuit.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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