Trans Athlete Winning Junior Olympics Race Sparks Backlash
A middle school trans athlete won the 1600-meter race at the Junior Olympics in Cashmere this weekend and some parents are speaking out
A trans athlete came in first in the 1600-meter race at the Junior Olympics in Cashmere on May 18 and it’s a win that has some parents concerned.
Elizabeth and Brendan Wilson said their daughter Ahnaleigh worked hard all season to get to the Junior Olympics, an invite-only event track and field event for the season’s top performers, and came in second by about seven seconds. The Wilsons said they had no idea their daughter would be competing against a trans athlete until the race was starting.
“It was just clear as day that this is a male. And she had no chance. She was just disappointed,” Elizabeth said. “She kept saying, ‘If I would have done this better or that better…’ but I had to explain to her, ‘I don't think even if you did everything right, I don't know you could have beat him.’ He was so much stronger and faster at the end.”
The Wilsons said it wasn’t a fair competition.
“We want sports to be fair. Our daughter puts a lot in to do everything she does in sports and I don’t think it’s fair to have a biological male racing against girls,” Brendan said. “There needs to be a rule to protect women in sports so that they can have fair competition.”
According to the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, public schools must allow all students to participate in physical education and athletics that correspond to their gender identity. It’s the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, or WIAA, that governs interscholastic athletics and assesses eligibility for interscholastic athletics, and the Wilsons said they plan to contact WIAA about the race and how determining eligibility works.
An Okanogan County man named Reid Wilson (no relation to Elizabeth and Brendan) posted about the race at about noon on May 18 and as of Sunday afternoon, the post had 155 shares and nearly 350 comments.
Many of the comments are negative, and some advocate violence against the 8th-grader standing in the number one spot.
“Just push him off there,” one commenter wrote.
Others fantasized about what they would do to that minor if they were in the next race against them.
One man posted a photo of a livestock castration bander and another posted a photo of the race results to identify the athlete in the top spot.
Even former politicians and candidates running for office weighed in. Liberty Bell High School is the Methow Valley in Okanogan County and former County Commissioner Jim DeTro said the situation in Cashmere “turns his stomach” then expressed his desire to expel those who don’t share his political views from his county.
“Can we somehow as a pioneer County legislate these left wing lunatics out?” he wrote. “More reason to post my new bumper sticker on my side by side (welcome to Winthrop where you can ride your buddy but not your ATV) Absolutely need to rid the County of the creeping full blown Socialism and Communism. If you don’t love Okanogan County. GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!!!!!”
Marc Doney is running for Okanogan County Commissioner and veered even further from the issue at hand to take the opportunity to lash out at “Leftist” secular progressive ideology and the National Education Association as a whole.
But Elizabeth and Brendan said they don’t want folks to bully the individual who came in first, and expressed their disgust at some of the things people are saying on Reid’s Facebook post.
Their issue is with the adults who make the rules at the WIAA.
“We don't want any hate for this kid. It's a child,” Elizabeth said. “But at the same time I just want to know how do we protect our child as well? We want sports to be fair our daughter puts a lot into everything she does in sports.”
Today it’s the Junior Olympics, but if something isn’t done in the future it could be Ahnaleigh losing a scholarship to a trans athlete, she said.
I reached out to the parents of the athlete who placed first as well, but they did not respond to requests for comments by the time of the first publication of this article. If they do get back to me and want to speak on the record I will update this piece.
According to The Trevor Project, transgender and nonbinary young people face elevated risk for depression, thoughts of suicide, and attempting suicide compared to those who are cisgender and straight. According to a peer-reviewed 2020 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, “transgender and nonbinary youth were 2 to 2.5 times as likely to experience depressive symptoms, seriously consider suicide, and attempt suicide compared to their cisgender LGBQ peers.”
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 14 and LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.
My Two Cents
Any American not in a coma or living in a bunker knows what a hot-button topic this is these days. And until the issue of trans athletes competing in women’s sports became localized I was more than happy to steer clear of it. But now the issue has been raised in our region and I think it’s important to acknowledge that fact and have a responsible dialogue about it.
What is happening on Reid Wilson’s Facebook post is a far cry from “responsible dialogue.” The mob mentality on display is nothing short of shameful – especially from leaders who have been or seek to be elected.
We need to tread very carefully and not vilify, threaten or bully children – ever. This child is not some avatar for a group of people you want to punish, they are an individual who is statistically at risk. How must that athlete or their parents feel if or when they read that thread? To know that some of the most powerful people in your community want to run you out of the county – out of your hometown?
The issue of trans athletes competing in women’s sports may never be solved to the satisfaction of all parties involved. What can be guaranteed though is that it will never be solved if we can’t discuss the issue like adults.
And aren’t youth sports supposed to instill character traits we hold up as desirable in any adult? Traits like leadership, emotional maturity, and grace under pressure?
As adults this is our opportunity to model those behaviors for our children – if we possess them.
Cooler heads, as they say, prevail. And this is one time I sincerely hope they do.
My child is trans. The behavior of these people is why being the parent of a trans youth is terrifying. It doesn't matter how blue our state is, there are people in our communities who wish to do our CHILDREN harm simply for existing and wanting the same opportunities as everyone else.
I acknowledge the trans athlete issue is a quagmire. We're talking about an 8th grader, not an adult who has been training for years. How much of an advantage does a male 13-14 year old have over a female in actual reality? People need to get a grip. No one is crying about trans boys. It's always the women who are the targets.
I wanted a better world for my kids than this.....
Couldn't agree more with your two cents. This problem will not be worked out overnight. This type of social issue could take years. In the meantime people need to stop acting like animals and using these first pioneers as punching bags.