A outraged father has voiced his objections after his daughter was displaced in a high school skiing competition by a male competitor who identifies as a transgender girl.
June Watterson, a sophomore at Davis Senior High School, who was born male, clinched the top spot in the High School State Champions women’s slalom race.
This event was part of the California-Nevada Interscholastic Ski & Snowboard Federation (CNISSF) state finals on March 6. The victory, however, was met with a wave of controversy and anger.
Watterson secured first place in the women’s event, registering a combined result of 1:08.29, a lead of 17 seconds over the second-place finisher, Carlie Chandler, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Related: Fierce Backlash After Transgender California High School Runner’s 2nd Place Finish in Girls Race
A father, preferring to stay anonymous, voiced his frustration over the situation, stating his daughter was denied a rightful place in the competition due to Watterson being permitted to participate as a female competitor.
“I’m all about being inclusive and accepting people, but they have men racing in women’s sports,” he said. “Hormones and drugs are just introducing drugs into sport. It’s not fair on the girls.”
The father further emphasized, “It’s pretty clear to me or anyone with a brain that if you are going through or have gone through male puberty then you should only race against people who have gone through or are going through male puberty.”
In a startling revelation, Watterson, who only recently started taking women’s hormones for transitioning, still participates as a male in other sports, while competing as a female in skiing.
As stated in the Daily Mail and confirmed through Watterson’s own social media posts, Watterson is actively participating as a male in the Redwood/Repack region cycling Petaluma round-up events.
The frustrated father lamented the situation, expressing disappointment that his daughter’s diligent efforts and qualifying success for her high school were seemingly overlooked. “‘I asked her how she felt. She said she was supportive, and her team had ‘come to terms’ with it,” he shared.
“These kids, they are kids, [and] live in the world adults have created. I don’t blame the winning athlete. This is a failure at the administrative level and higher,” he insisted.
Expressing his frustration, he said, “I’ll point out the obvious: you ruin women’s sports by allowing males to compete in women’s sports.”
The father also expressed concern over what he perceives as a pervasive influence of ‘woke’ school policies, suggesting his daughter had become somewhat “indoctrinated” in accepting the situation.
“Speaking for parents of female athletes, are we just expected to ‘come to terms’ with this? No amount of hormone therapy or re/deconstructive surgery will change the biological muscular and skeletal differences between those born with XX and those born with XY chromosomes,” he stated.
“The assumption is that when my daughter competes in the women’s division, she competes against other females. She is not in a co-ed or open division,” he continued.
The father described the situation as an “injustice to young women” and said it “cannot continue anywhere, especially not on my doorstep.”
He stressed the impact of Watterson’s participation, saying, “Even if you didn’t finish on the podium, he still pushed you down the list even further. And what about next year? This isn’t going away until people speak up.”
Expressing a bleak outlook, he warned, “‘It’s going to get to a point where the top ten are all men.”
The father also shared his disappointment over the political handling of the issue. He criticized Democrats for fueling this debate and pointed out the insufficient action in Washington, D.C.
“I can’t believe this has become an issue, the House of Representatives introduced the bill to protect women’s sports but not a single Democrat voted for it and it astounds me that this has become a partisan issue. We just need common sense,” he stressed.
At some point all parents of female athletes are going to have to decide, are you willing to let the integrity of women’s sports be compromised?