Trans athletes have been dominating highschool ladies’ sports activities within the US — and dominating the information, with greater than a dozen instances making headlines this faculty yr.
Over the weekend, biologically male athletes positioned in observe and area championships in Oregon, Washington and California, regardless of President Trump’s February govt order banning trans athletes in ladies’s sports activities.
Participation continues in lots of states the place ongoing authorized challenges and state-level insurance policies contradict the federal directive. Maine Governor Janet Mills’s pledge to defy the order resulted in a number of months of frozen federal funding, and California’s defiance of the order triggered a DOJ investigation into whether or not its state regulation violates Title IX.
“THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS,” Trump wrote on Reality Social on Might 27. “Please be hereby suggested that enormous scale Federal Funding will likely be held again, perhaps completely, if the Govt Order on this material isn’t completely adhered to.”
A February ballot from Pew discovered that 66% of People consider they need to compete in response to their beginning intercourse — up from 58% in 2022.
Listed here are probably the most instances which have shaken up the high-school sports activities world in the course of the 2024-25 faculty yr.
Jurupa Valley, California
Trans athlete AB Hernandez, 16, took first place within the ladies excessive and triple leap occasions at California’s high-school championship Saturday and positioned second within the lengthy leap.
Hernandez shared the highest podium spot with the biologically feminine athlete who completed “second,” due to a change to the California Interscholastic Federation guidelines — made final week after President Trump publicly criticized the state for permitting trans athletes to proceed to compete.
In Might, Reese Hogan, the 16-year-old who got here second to Hernandez within the triple leap on the CIF Southern Part Finals, momentarily posed for photographs on the high of the rostrum after Hernandez climbed off — eliciting cheers from the gang.
Shirley, NY
A 6-foot, 14-year-old freshman trans athlete stirred controversy by becoming a member of the varsity observe group at William Floyd Excessive Faculty on Lon Island in March, regardless of not being on hormone substitute remedy.
A gaggle of feminine pupil athletes informed the South Shore Press they’d really feel uncomfortable in the event that they needed to share a locker room with a biologically male competitor.
Portland, Oregon
At Saturday’s state observe championship in Eugene, Oregon, two feminine athletes — third and fourth place champions Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard, each seniors — refused to face on the rostrum with Lia Rose, a trans athlete who took fifth place. Rose, additionally a senior, competed as a male for Ida B. Wells Excessive Faculty final yr.
And Ada Gallagher, a transgender junior at McDaniel Excessive Faculty, completed greater than seven seconds forward of the runner-up within the 400M Portland Interscholastic League meet and likewise gained the 200M race in February.
Tecoma, Washington
That very same day Veronica Garcia, a transgender 17-year-old representing Mount Tahoma Excessive Faculty in Tacoma, Washington, gained the category 2A 400-meter sprint state title for the second consecutive time.
Garcia informed the Seattle Instances that boos from the gang acted as gasoline: “It made me indignant, however not indignant as in, I needed to surrender, however indignant as in, I’m going to push… I hope they get a life.”
Harmony, NH
In October of 2024, feminine soccer gamers at Bishop Brady Catholic Excessive Faculty pulled out of a sport towards Kearsarge Regional Excessive Faculty in protest over a transgender competitor.
Shelton, Washington
In February, a basketball sport between Tumwater and Shelton Excessive Colleges triggered a civil rights criticism over a transgender participant on Shelton’s group.
“Anybody that invades my privateness and safety as a lady, that’s not okay,” Frances Saudt, the 15-year-old feminine athlete who filed the criticism, informed an area information outlet.
San Francisco, California
A transgender basketball participant scored 29 factors for San Francisco Waldorf Excessive Faculty’s ladies group in January — resulting in a 59-33 win over Jewish Group Excessive Faculty.
When that athlete, whose identify has not been made public, missed a playoff sport in February following Trump’s govt order, Waldorf’s group misplaced by 26 factors.
Bridgeport, West Virginia
Transgender athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson, a freshman at Bridgeport Excessive Faculty in Bridgeport, West Virginia, was the primary transgender athlete to compete in her state’s observe championships in Might.
Pepper-Jackson gained bronze within the Class AAA ladies discus occasion, securing a spot on the medal podium.
Plymouth, New Hampshire
In the beginning of the varsity yr, a federal decide quickly overruled former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu’s ban — barring trans athletes in grades 5-12 from groups that align with their chosen gender id — in order that soccer participant Parker Tirrell, now 16, might take part on Plymouth Regional Excessive Faculty’s group by emergency order.
Tirrell and 15-year-old tennis participant Iris Turmelle, who can also be trans and attends Pembroke Academy, grew to become the primary pupil athletes to problem Trump’s order in March, increasing on a lawsuit they’d filed towards their state.
Champlin, Minnesota
In Might, reigning state softball champions Rogers Excessive Faculty have been defeated by Champlin Park Excessive Faculty in Might, after their transgender pitcher threw fourteen shutout innings.
Riverside, California
A feminine observe co-captain at Martin Luther King Excessive Faculty alleged that she misplaced her varsity spot to a transgender athlete who transferred to the varsity.
