An Oregon high school came under fire on Saturday, April 13, 2024, after a video of a transgender athlete competing against girls at a meet surfaced online. The video of the trans athlete zipping past her competitors, leaving them behind at a track and field meet, sparked outrage online.
Feminist magazine Reduxx originally shared the video, which has garnered millions of views online. The footage shows McDaniel High School sophomore Aayden Gallagher speeding past a group of biological female athletes. It also shows Gallagher keeping a great distance between them and her.
Ultimately, she crosses the finish line at the 25.49-second mark. However, the other athletes do not finish until around the 31-second mark. Gallagher finished second in the Girls’ 200-meter Varsity event on Saturday at the Oregon Sherwood Need for Speed Classic. Race results show that Aster Jones edged her out of first place.
As stated earlier, the video sparked controversy, with many condemning the Oregon high school. Under current policy, the Oregon School Activities Association “endeavors to allow students to participate in the athletic or activity program of their consistently asserted gender identity while providing a fair and safe environment for all students.”
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Hence, once a trans student notifies the school of their gender identity, they will constantly treat them as that gender. The policy states they will consider them their preferred gender “for purposes of eligibility for athletics and activities.”
Before she participated in the Sherwood Need for Speed Classic in Oregon, Gallagher hinted at taking hormone replacement therapy. She reportedly told her high school newspaper in 2023 that she believed it would make her “a lot more confident.”
The trans athlete also noted that she will keep “getting more and more masculine — more facial hair, stuff like that.” “And I don’t want that,” Gallagher said. As the video of her victory at the Sherwood Need for Speed spread over the weekend, many criticized the athlete online.
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Social media users said she has an unfair advantage over the biological female athletes. “These high school girls just had their dreams stolen from them,” popular X account Libs of TikTok wrote.
“Because the school is catering [to] the delusions of a boy who pretends to be a girl.” “He is a cheater,” the X account added. Similarly, a Canadian podcaster and author, Meghan Murphy, slammed the video. She described the video as “sick and disgusting.”
“I want to know why his parents are allowing him to mock female athletes,” Murphy posted online. “And why his coach is allowing him to cheat and why these girls’ coaches and parents aren’t speaking up.” Two-time Team USA track and field star Carilyn Johnson also joined in on the criticism.
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“At some point, we have to be willing to see this for what it is,” she wrote. “Please stop pretending like this is anything other than telling young female athletes they don’t matter.” Furthermore, parents of the female athletes who competed alongside Gallagher also condemned the video.
One parent, whose daughter competed in the 200-meter race, blasted the video as “insane.” “How can ANYONE think this is fair?” she asked. The mother wrote that the athletes come from across Oregon to compete in the event, “and this is what they got — being beaten by a boy.”
“We must demand a third category in high school competitions, or races must be by biological gender,” the mother continued. “Anything else is making a mockery of female athletics.”
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