According to a report, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) will allegedly ban girls from publicly criticizing transgender athletes competing in their sport.
This comes after a transgender male athlete, Aayden Gallagher, edged out a female competitor to win a girls’ track race, drawing boos from the crowd.
A mother of one of the competitors said her daughter has trained since middle school to compete at that level but lost her chance due to Gallagher competing against girls.
She and other parents feel it’s unfair and takes away opportunities that girls have fought for.
“My daughter is in her senior year, and she has to compete with Aayden, who just won first at State and took away spots from our girls. He doesn’t deserve it. He needs to be with the men. I don’t care if he’s transgender. You can have your own opinion and do what you want to do, but you have no right taking away from these girls,” one mother said.
“Has anybody been afraid to speak out?” a reporter asked.
The mother said OSAA has threatened to disqualify students and ban parents if they “discriminate” or speak negatively about an athlete’s gender.
She argued Gallagher should compete against males but taking titles and spots from girls is stealing their rights.
“Yes, a lot of parents are afraid to speak out because there is [an announcement] from OSAA that if you discriminate or you put anyone down for their gender or if you talk negative, it can disqualify the children from events, but it can also pick out parents from all OSAA events,” the mother said.
“My daughter has been training since fifth or sixth grade to be where she’s at. She trains year-round, and for him to take it, it just … It’s not okay. He might be able to compete in college, but he will never be able to compete in the nationals. Ever,” she added.
“Why is that transgender and LGBTQ have taken away so many rights for women we have fought so hard for years, and here they are taking it from us sports. They’re taking it from the girls who don’t deserve it,” she said.
