Trans-identifying Oregon High School Runner Sets Season Record at Track Meet
A transgender-identifying high school athlete has drawn renewed criticism after easily winning multiple races in a Portland Interscholastic League track meet, just a year after backlash over the same athlete competing against girls.
Ada Gallagher, an 11th grader at McDaniel High School in Portland, recently competed in the meet, where he decisively won the girls’ 400-meter race, finishing over seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Last year, as a 10th grader, Gallagher won first place in the 200-meter and 400-meter races at the 6A-1 Portland Interscholastic League Championship.
In the latest meet, Gallagher ran a 57.62 in the 400-meter race. The second-place finisher, Franklin High School’s Kinnaly Souphanthong, completed the race in 1:05.72, while Gallagher’s teammate, Quinnan Schaefer, took third with a time of 1:07.13. In the 200-meter race, Gallagher secured first place with a time of 25.76, followed by teammate Addyson Skyles at 27.31. Both of Gallagher’s times were season records.
Footage of the races posted on social media has sparked backlash, with many women’s rights activists continuing to argue that it is unfair for female athletes to compete against a biological male.
According to Fox News, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), which governs the Portland Interscholastic League, has a gender identity participation policy that “allows 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.”
“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,” the policy states.
The controversy follows President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” which aims to “protect female student athletes, in the women’s category, from having to ‘compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.’”
