Parent warns of gag order on trans victories over girls in school sports

A California parent whose high school daughter is competing against biological males in track is warning that not only is the competition unfair, but such concerns are being silenced by the…

A California parent whose high school daughter is competing against biological males in track is warning that not only is the competition unfair, but such concerns are being silenced by the state’s athletic association.

The parent, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said that the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which is the governing body for high school sports in the state, told participants that any complaining about trans victories would be considered “bullying” and potentially disqualifying, Fox News reports.

The news comes after Athena Ryan, a biological male, took second place in the 1,600-meter event, beating out a biological female competitor to advance to the championship next week.

“The student athletes’ reactions are very tempered and controlled as much as they can because they’re not allowed to show any reaction whatsoever to potentially not affirm what is happening,” the parent told Fox News. “We’ve been advised that anything that potentially can come off as bullying is a code of conduct violation. And so by CIF rules [the girls are] unable to speak out about this.”

The parent emphasized that there’s a place for transgendered people to compete, but biological males competing against biological females is disrespectful to the effort and training that the girls do. 

“I 100% empathize with the need to belong and the desire to compete. [However,] you have to understand how hard these girls work to do this,” the parent said. “You’re cheating [the sport], like the narcissism of this whole thing,” the parent added.  

Adding substantiation to the gagging claim by the parent was a Twitter video that showed protestors supporting fairness in girls sports getting escorted from the event by security.  

The group Women are Real showed up at the event with a banner that read “Protect Female Sports.” 

They were kicked out of the event after Ryan’s second-place finish.  

The sports site OutKick noted that Ryan scored a season-best time of 4:55:91—a time that would’ve qualified as last amongst male competitors. But against females, it secured him a spot in the state finals. 

Sara Higdon, a transsexual Catholic, asked a pointed question to the NCAA via Twitter about the fairness of the event.  

“Question for the @NCAA, World Athletics has banned Trans athletes, as they should, so how is Athena Ryan already getting scholarship offers, when y’all said you will follow the individual sports guidelines. Wouldn’t Ryan be banned from competing in female sports in college?” Higdon wrote.  

The CIF responded to inquiries by Fox News by saying that under California law “students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.”