Trans Athlete Booed After Winning Oregon High School State Championship

This weekend, controversy stirred at the iconic Hayward Field during the 2024 Oregon State High School Track and Field Championships.

Among the high schoolers competing is 10th grader Aayden Gallagher, who has been bagging some impressive results in the 200m and 400m races. Gallagher won her heat in the 400m and followed that up with a State Championship title in the 200m.

However, Gallagher’s performances haven’t been met with cheers from the crowds. Rather, the stadium filled with booing after she crossed the line ahead of her competitors.

Gallagher is a transgender girl, and being in Oregon, a state that affirms her right to compete on a girl’s team, she requires no medical or hormonal intervention or transition to compete in any gender category. The state allows nonbinary and transgender athletes to simply choose their gender category in sports, regardless of having or not having any medical interventions.

Last month, Gallagher placed second in the 200m and won the 400m races at a meet. The results did not sit well with a group of Republican legislators in the state, who called on the Oregon State Activities Association to change their policy.

OSAA executive director Peter Weber stood behind their current inclusion policy, stating in a letter, “Oregon law has long prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” the letter states. “In 2019, the Oregon Department of Education amended its rules that ‘sexual orientation’ was defined to include ‘gender identity.’ The Oregon legislature likewise amended the definition of ‘sexual orientation’ to include ‘gender identity.’”

The Republican group responded by putting forth a call for legislation that would ban transgender girls from competing in the girl’s category alongside stripping them of any achievements they may have earned in the category.