Trans-identifying male advances to girls track and field championships in New Hampshire 

A biological male will face off against girls at the state championship in two separate track and field events next week.

Maelle Jacques, a freshman at Kearsarge Regional High School, placed 2nd in the girls 1600-meter run and 5th in girls high jump to advance to New Hampshire’s Division II and III Track and Field Championships, to take place Wednesday.

Jacques’ victories also helped the girls team at the school win a trophy and title at the last meet of the regular season.

However, Jacques wouldn’t have advanced to the championships had he ran in the boy’s division, where his time would have placed him near the bottom, 50th out of 56. 

Males in other states will also be competing against females in track and field. In California, Athena Ryan and Lorelei Barret will compete in the girls 1600-meter run at Friday’s state championship meet. 

In Seattle, trans-identifying athlete Aspen Hoffman continues to compete and win against biological women in track and field and cross country. Hoffman, a student at Seattle Academy High School, first made the news when he broke the girls school record for the 5,000-meter run last season.  

However, an increasing number of prominent athletes, such as NCAA All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, are calling out the Biden administration, sports associations and governing bodies for promoting what they say is blatantly unfair competition. 

“The Biden Administration is actively and aggressively working to pass laws that erase decent and fair treatment for women in sports,” Gaines wrote recently on Twitter. 

The U.S. House of Representatives even passed a bill banning trans-identifying athletes from competing in sports opposite of their biological sex. However, the Senate has yet to vote on the bill, and even if it was passed, the president has pledged to veto it, supposing it’s harmful to families and students.  

“[A] national law that further stigmatizes these children is completely unnecessary, hurts families and students, and would only put students at greater risk,” a Biden administration statement read. “Discrimination has no place in our nation’s schools or on our playing fields.” 

The real harm, Gaines argues, is suffered by girls and their families. 

“How many girls have to be injured playing against a male, how many girls have to lose out on scholarships and trophies and titles?” Gaines said. “How many girls have to feel violated in the locker room?”  

At least 22 states have passed legislation banning athletes from competing in sports designated for the opposite biological sex.