Tracking the trans athlete high school sports controversies shaking the nation over the last year

The 2024-25 schoolhouse twelvemonth successful the U.S. was beset by a bid of controversies involving trans athletes playing for girls' sports teams. 

Many of these incidents person garnered nationalist attraction and ignited heated debates. 

President Donald Trump took purpose astatine this contented connected Feb. 5 erstwhile helium signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" enforcement order, but aggregate Democrat-controlled states defied it. 

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As the schoolhouse twelvemonth and outpouring sports play travel to a close, present is simply a breakdown of each the incidents that shook the federation implicit the past year.

California

California was the nation's biggest hotbed of incidents involving trans athletes successful girls' sports. 

Transgender jock AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School won the girls' triple leap and precocious leap authorities championships this past play against the backdrop of section protests and nationalist attraction aft Trump called retired the concern earlier past week. California's precocious schoolhouse sports league responded by amending its rules to accommodate pistillate athletes who finished down a trans jock successful the 3 events Hernandez competed in, granting them qualification and podium finishes they would person earned had a biologically antheral jock not competed successful those events. 

This resulted successful Hernandez having to stock podium spots with the pistillate athletes who finished 1 spot down Hernandez aft the finals connected Saturday. 

Transgender jock AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley competes successful the girls precocious leap during the CIF State Track and Field Championships astatine Veterans Memorial Stadium connected May 30, 2025 successful Clovis, California. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, the protests astatine the conscionable escalated into a convulsive transgression country aft a pro-LGBTQ protester was arrested for allegedly assaulting a blimpish with a transgender pridefulness flag, women's rights activistic Sophia Lorey was constabulary escorted retired of the venue for handing retired "Save Girls Sports" wristbands, and a level flew implicit caput with a banner that work "No Boys successful Girls' Sports!" 

However, months earlier Hernandez took the titles astatine the chaotic way meet, a girls' cross-country contention astatine Martin Luther King High School resulted successful a suit and pupil uprising. 

Students Kaitlyn Slavin and Taylor Starling filed the suit against the Riverside Unified School District aft a trans jock took Starling's varsity spot connected the girls' cross-country team, and alleged the schoolhouse administrators compared "Save Girls Sports" T-shirts the girls wore successful protestation to swastikas. 

Then hundreds of students astatine the schoolhouse began to deterioration the shirts each Wednesday contempt the schoolhouse putting a formal codification successful spot to forbid it. The schoolhouse began putting the students wearing them successful detention, but that did not halt the teens from wearing them. Eventually, the schoolhouse stopped punishing students for wearing the shirts, and they continued to deterioration them each week. 

In the autumn and wintertime sports seasons, a transgender jock for San Francisco Waldorf ignited nationalist contention for the school's girls' volleyball and hoops teams. 

During the girls' volleyball season, Stone Ridge Christian's squad forfeited a playoff crippled to Waldorf. The Stone Ridge Christian girls sacrificed their play to instrumentality a nationalist basal by refusing to look the trans jock and were aboriginal honored by activistic Riley Gaines. 

Then successful February, the trans jock was acceptable to look Cornerstone Christian successful a girls' hoops playoff game, conscionable weeks aft Trump signed his enforcement order. That time, it was San Francisco Waldorf's subordinate who refused to play, skipping the crippled amid warnings by the U.S. Department of Education, which Fox News Digital first reported. With the trans jock retired of the lineup, San Francisco Waldorf mislaid the playoff crippled by 26 points. 

Another California transgender precocious schoolhouse volleyball subordinate was booed and harassed astatine an Oct. 12 lucifer betwixt Notre Dame Belmont and Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

During the Lucia Mar Unified School District committee gathering successful April, a high-school inferior girls' way athlete astatine Arroyo Grande High School named Celeste Diest took the lectern to recount her acquisition of having to alteration successful beforehand of a biologically antheral trans jock earlier practice, portion that jock allegedly watched her undress. The schoolhouse committee president told Diest to "wrap it up" portion the teen cried.

Then, astatine the pursuing meeting, a miss named Audrey Vanherweg said she had to alteration successful her car to debar changing with the trans athlete. At the precise aforesaid meeting, a trans jock astatine the schoolhouse besides spoke. 

"When I joined way past year, I was terrified," the jock said. "I was alone, and I feared for my life. When I started going to way practice, I was excessively acrophobic to marque friends. I thought they would cull and mock maine for being transgender. At my archetypal meet, I sat alone, connected the wet, muddy ground.

"I fearfulness that idiosyncratic would impeach maine of a heinous crime, truthful I walked connected razor-thin ice. I ne'er spent longer than 3 minutes successful the locker room. I ne'er made oculus interaction with people," the jock said. "And yet, radical inactive impeach me, idiosyncratic who deals with intersexual harassment connected a regular basis, of being a predator. So, I'm present to accidental that I americium not the villain, I americium the victim."  

Maine

Maine became crushed zero for Trump's run to unit Democrat leaders to comply with his enforcement bid successful February aft a spat betwixt him and Gov. Janet Mills during a bi-partisan gathering of governors astatine the White House. 

The spat occurred days aft a transgender jock for Greely High School won a girls' rod vault authorities title. Greely's jock had antecedently competed successful boys' way and tract 2 years earlier. 

"I watched this antheral rod vaulter basal connected the podium, and we were each conscionable similar looking we were similar ‘We’re beauteous definite that's not a girl. There's nary mode that's a girl,'" Presque Isle pupil Hailey Himes antecedently told Fox News Digital. "It was truly discouraging, particularly for the girls connected the podium not successful archetypal place. So that motivated maine to combat for them." 

Meanwhile, different trans jock successful the authorities for North Yarmouth Academy has beaten aggregate girls' athletes successful cross-country, way and tract and Nordic Skiing. 

Maine girls' jock Cassidy Carlisle of Presque Isle High School mislaid large competitions to North Yarmouth's trans jock successful some cross-country and Nordic skiing. 

"The decision that comes with that successful that infinitesimal is heartbreaking," Carlisle said. "I'm conscionable successful daze successful a way. I didn't judge it. … I didn't deliberation it was happening to me."

Now, some Greely's and North Yarmouth's trans athletes are acceptable to vie successful the upcoming girls' way and tract authorities finals this weekend. 

Minnesota

Minnesota's girls' softball play is presently astatine the halfway of nationalist attraction arsenic a transgender pitcher is starring Champlin Park High School connected a ascendant postseason run. 

The pitcher led Champlin Park to the authorities tourney with a ascendant shutout triumph successful the sectional last connected Thursday, and present the schoolhouse volition vie successful the authorities tourney for the archetypal clip successful programme past connected Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit by 3 anonymous pistillate players has been filed against the authorities for allowing the subordinate to compete.

The instrumentality steadfast representing the plaintiffs, Alliance Defending Freedom, provided statements from 1 of the pistillate players astir her acquisition facing the trans athlete. 

"Hitting against him is not lone a carnal situation but a mental, too. It’s a intelligence conflict knowing that helium has an vantage successful the athletics that I grew up playing, making it hard to adjacent privation to deed against him. His quality to get outs and rotation the shot is simply a beardown advantage, but similar I said it’s besides incredibly mentally challenging knowing that you’re competing against idiosyncratic who has unfair advantages leaving you with small to nary confidence," the subordinate said. 

"This contented has affected maine successful ways that I ne'er imagined. It’s simply unfair, and I hatred that thing is happening to alteration that. Boys should not beryllium capable to instrumentality girls' spots connected teams conscionable due to the fact that they are susceptible of doing so. I anticipation that much girls affected by this contented volition basal up against this."

Oregon

Oregon was thrust into the nationalist spotlight implicit the contented this past play astatine the authorities way and tract championships erstwhile 2 pistillate athletes went viral for refusing to instrumentality the podium adjacent to a trans jock aft medaling successful the girls' precocious jump. 

The 2 high school seniors, Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School, stepped down from their respective spots connected the podium adjacent to a trans jock who represented Ida B. Wells High School. 

Eckard, successful 4th place, and Anderson, successful third, each finished up of the trans athlete, who tied for 5th place. However, the 2 females faced the other absorption arsenic the different competitors received their medals from officials. 

Anderson alleges the authoritative ordered her and Eckard to get retired of the changeable of photos if they were not going to basal connected the podium.

"We stepped disconnected the podium successful protestation and, arsenic you tin see, the authoritative benignant of told america 'hey, spell implicit there, if you’re not going to participate, get retired of the photos,'" Anderson alleged during an interrogation connected Fox News Channel's "The Ingraham Angle" Monday night. 

"They asked america to determination distant from the medal stand, truthful erstwhile they took the photos, we weren't adjacent successful it astatine all."

In aboriginal April, the Ida B. Wells trans jock finished archetypal spot successful a varsity precocious leap contention astir 2 years aft finishing past portion competing against inferior varsity boys. 

Back successful March, a trans jock for McDaniel High School finished successful archetypal spot successful the 200M and 400M races during the 6A-1 Portland Interscholastic League Championship successful 2024, breaking play records.

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New Hampshire

Despite having a instrumentality successful spot to restrict biologic males successful girls' sports, 3 trans athletes recovered their mode onto girls' sports teams successful New Hampshire implicit the past year. 

Plymouth Regional High School's Parker Tirrell competed connected the girls' tennis team, Pembroke Academy's Iris Turmelle competed connected that school's girls' shot team, arsenic their families person filed a suit to alteration the trans athletes' respective inclusion connected each team. After Trump's enforcement order, they expanded the suit to see his medication arsenic well. 

Parker Tirrell, a transgender jock who plays connected her precocious school's girls' shot team, practices successful the driveway of her household location connected Friday, March 7, 2025 successful Plymouth, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In September, parents wore pinkish "XX" wristbands during a precocious schoolhouse shot crippled that Tirrell played successful to amusement enactment to the pistillate athletes involved. The protestation led to Bow and Dunbarton School Districts Superintendent Marcy Kelley issuing a announcement of trespass against parents Anthony and Nicole Foote, on with Kyle Fellers and Eldon Rash, according to the New Hampshire Journal.

The parents past sued the schoolhouse district, claiming their First Amendment rights were violated. However, successful mid-April, U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe ruled that the territory acted reasonably successful its determination to forestall parents from wearing the wristbands.

Meanwhile, Bishop Brady High School saw its girls' shot squad boycott a crippled against Kearsage Regional High School implicit a trans jock connected that squad successful October. 

The justice who made the ruling to overrule the state's laws preventing trans inclusion successful girls' sports was Landya McCafferty, who is simply a wide appointed to her spot by erstwhile President Barack Obama successful 2013. 

Washington

In February, a civilian rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights connected behalf of a teenage miss successful Washington authorities who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a hoops crippled against a trans athlete. 

The ailment alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington investigated 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the hostile and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment connected Feb. 7. 

Staudt appeared connected the YouTube bid "[un]Divided with Brandie Kruse" with her parent to sermon the concern aboriginal that month. 

"I've had threats astatine me. I've had radical telling maine I'm going to hell. I've had radical saying, ‘Good luck having immoderate aboriginal aft this’ and saying, ‘I cognize each the radical who are reporting your relationship are blessed to spot your downfall, and cognize that it’s going to beryllium a existent unsmooth clip for you successful your aboriginal due to the fact that of your determination to station this,'" Staudt said

Just days later, the trans jock progressive successful the incident, identified arsenic Andi Rooks, appeared on the aforesaid show alongside the athlete's father. 

"I've ne'er had an contented until this game, and my extremity was ne'er to marque anybody uncomfortable successful immoderate way, and I didn't adjacent recognize Frances had an contented until I got yelled astatine at the game," Rooks said. "If she had had a speech with maine earlier the game, I would person sat out. My past happening I privation to bash is marque anybody uncomfortable."

Rooks added that the jock volition beryllium retired immoderate aboriginal games if opponents are uncomfortable facing a trans athlete. 

"If immoderate different idiosyncratic oregon subordinate I'm playing against is like, ‘I don’t consciousness comfy with this,' I don't caput sitting out," Rooks said. 

The Tumwater School District went connected to walk its ain regularisation to prohibition trans athletes from girls' sports, earlier a Department of Education probe was launched against the territory for the incident. 

Then this past weekend, Verónica Garcia, a transgender competitor, has been connected apical of the contention successful the girls’ 400-meter races during the Washington authorities outdoor play successful 2025 and finished successful archetypal spot during the authorities championships connected Saturday.

Garcia, who competes for East Valley High School successful Spokane, took location the rubric successful the 2A contention for the 2nd consecutive year. Garcia finished archetypal successful the 2A Greater Spokane League District Championship connected May 23 and won respective different regular-season races implicit the people of the year.

Garcia told The Seattle Times determination were boos from the assemblage that did not hold that biologic males should vie against girls successful sports. However, Garcia fired backmost with a defiant connection aft the contention was over.

"I’ll beryllium honest, I benignant of expect it," Garcia told the outlet. "But it possibly didn’t person their intended effect. It made maine angry, but not aggravated arsenic in, I wanted to springiness up, but aggravated arsenic in, I’m going to push.

"I’m going to enactment this successful the astir PG-13 way. I’m conscionable going to accidental it’s a damn shame they don’t person thing other amended to do. I anticipation they get a life. But ohio well. It conscionable shows who they are arsenic people."

Pennsylvania

In May, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School trans jock Luce Allen took archetypal spot successful the Liberty Girls' 200-meter contention astatine the SOL American Conference Championships. Allen hardly defeated the second-place runner by less than two-hundredths of a second. 

Allen's parents had antecedently said that it would beryllium "cruel" to "force" the antheral jock to vie against boys and that Allen should beryllium allowed to contention against girls due to the fact that that is however the jock "identifies." 

"My kid is simply a pistillate successful her bosom and soul, and according to her aesculapian labs. Having her play sports with males would beryllium cruel," Allen's mother, Sarah Hansen said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Through an attorney, Allen released a connection that said, successful part, "If you region the quality of trans radical to vie with a squad that corresponds with their gender, past you’ll portion them of their accidental to make arsenic people." 

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New York

In April, a trans jock joined the girls' varsity way squad William Floyd High School contempt not being connected hormone replacement treatment, according to The New York Post. 

A radical of pistillate pupil athletes told the South Shore Press they would consciousness uncomfortable if they had to stock a locker country with a biologically antheral competitor.

West Virginia

Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old freshman astatine Bridgeport Senior High School who has been the taxable of a Supreme Court lawsuit astir their information successful girls’ sports, finished successful 3rd spot successful the discus lawsuit and eighth successful the changeable enactment contention astatine the West Virginia authorities title successful precocious May. 

A national appeals tribunal blocked a West Virginia instrumentality that would person kept biologic males from competing against girls and women successful sports past year. The tribunal said the instrumentality cannot lawfully beryllium applied to a mediate school-aged trans miss who has been taking puberty-blocking medicine and has publically identified arsenic a miss since the 3rd grade.

West Virginia has since made an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the appeals court’s ruling.

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