Video of a biological male who identifies as female setting a record in the 200 meters at a high school track meet in Oregon has sparked outrage.
Aayden Gallagher ran in the 200 meter and 400 meter events at the Sherwood High School Need for Speed Classic on Saturday. He wound up finishing second in the finals in each event, but it was his record-setting preliminary race where Gallagher broke the girls meet record in the 200 meters that ignited calls for change in allowing males to compete in female sports. Gallagher won that race by about six seconds.
In the finals, Gallagher finished in second place in each event in the girls division. Had he competed in the boys division, he would have finished 61st out of 65 in the 200 and 46th out of 58 in the 400.
Two dozen states have taken action to prevent males identifying as females from participating in girls’ sports. Oregon is not one of them.
Under current policy, the Oregon School Activities Association “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.”
It goes on to note that once a transgender student has notified their 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.”
In a post on X, a concerned parent called for change, noting that Gallagher’s finish would likely propel him to the girls' Oregon state championships and, ultimately, take the spot of a deserving female runner.
This boy will likely compete at the State track meet, where he will beat all of the girls, (except maybe 1) break records and be called a hero- for being a male who races against the girls and wins. These are the times of the Oregon 5A State track meet from last year… pic.twitter.com/NXsxoEyDGp
— Let_Oregon_Learn (@LetOregonLearn) April 13, 2024
A male just won the Girls 200m Varsity in Sherwood, Oregon. He set a new record for the girls race.
These high school girls just had their dream stolen from them because the school is catering the delusions of a boy who pretends to be a girl. He is a cheater. Video :… pic.twitter.com/DzQZ7fN5kv — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 14, 2024
