Crowd Boos As Transgender Athlete Wins High School State Championship

During the Oregon Girls’ 6A 200-meter state championship, Aayden Gallagher, a transgender high school runner from McDaniel High School, faced boos from the audience despite winning the state title with a two-tenths of a second lead.

Gallagher, who also received negative reactions while finishing the race, had the top time in the preliminary heats. Additionally, Gallagher excelled in the 400-meter preliminaries but narrowly missed winning the final by 0.15 seconds.

The event occurred in Eugene, Oregon, the venue known for hosting the U.S. Championships and Olympic Trials. Gallagher stirred controversy on social media following participation in multiple events at the Portland Interscholastic League Championship semifinals against female competitors.

After securing first place in the 400-meter preliminary event with a time of 56.14, Aayden Gallagher outperformed the second-place finisher by 0.23 seconds. In the 200-meter preliminary event, Gallagher came in second with a time of 24.49, trailing the first-place finisher by approximately 0.17 seconds.

These performances enabled Gallagher to qualify for the state finals held over the weekend. The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) has established a policy regarding transgender participation in high school sports.

“The OSAA endeavors to allow students to participate for the athletic or activity program of their consistently asserted gender identity while providing a fair and safe environment for all students,” the policy stated.

“As with Rule 8.2 regarding Duration of Eligibility / Graduation, rules such as this one promote harmony and fair competition among member schools by maintaining equality of eligibility and increase the number of students who will have an opportunity to participate in interscholastic activities.”

Additionally, the OSAA rules state that “once a transgender student has notified the student’s school of their gender identity, the student shall be consistently treated as that gender for purposes of eligibility for athletics and activities, provided that if the student has tried out or participated in an activity, the student may not participate during that same season on a team of the other gender.”

Recently, in West Virginia, a group of five middle school girls were prohibited from taking part in a track and field competition.

This action was taken after the girls protested and declined to participate in the event because a transgender athlete was allowed to compete in the meet.