More transgender athletes are winning championships than ever, and people are unhappy about it.
In Oregon and the state of Washington, the response to male athletes, who identify as female, winning state championships in high school girls’ outdoor track and field this season was, unsurprisingly, poor.
Aayden Gallagher received boos upon winning the 200-meter race at an Oregon state championship last month. The male athlete winning the championship received more attention nationally for the boos than the race itself.
The response to Veronica Garcia winning the 400-meter event at a Washington state championship meet last month was similarly negative.
“Garcia cheered and clapped for her competitors as they received their medals,” a story in the Spokesman-Review said. “When the announcer called her to the podium, the crowd fell silent, and the other high school runners at the podium did not acknowledge her as they stood with hands clasped behind their backs.”
Garcia claimed to be “somewhat hurt” by this reaction.
“I guess maybe I expected sportsmanship because I was cheering the rest of them on when they were called, so I guess I expected to get that reciprocated,” Garcia told the publication. “But I didn’t get that.”
These responses, along with the booing of Soren Stark-Chessa, a state champion transgender track runner in Maine, are no surprise. People have every right to have an icy response to boys winning championships in girls’ sports.
Nearly 70% of people oppose letting boys compete in girls’ sports, according to a June 2023 Gallup poll. Most people understand that boys, on average, have an unfair advantage over girls in sports. They also know that declaring yourself transgender does not physically make you a member of the opposite sex — hence why no so-called transgender women have ever been pregnant.
The problem of boys in girls’ sports worsens each year. At least five males who identify as transgender won high school girls’ track state championships this spring. Connecticut and New Hampshire also had males Lizzy Bidwell and Maelle Jacques win state titles. That’s in addition to Gallagher in Oregon, Garcia in Washington, and Stark-Chessa in Maine.
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Except for New Hampshire, all of those victories came in solidly blue states, meaning lawmakers will not stop this from happening anytime soon. Therefore, respectfully expressing their disapproval through silence or boos is one of the only tools average people have to oppose this string of transgender athlete dominance. They can influence the culture by making their disapproval of these victories known in hopes that these athletes and other prospective transgender athletes realize these wins are unfair.
However, the athletes are still human and often are suffering through mental anguish, so there is no reason to bully or harass them. Voicing disapproval is sufficient. Blue states could use some social stigma against transgender athletes. If the law cannot stop them, maybe the culture has a better chance.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.