Trans activists speak on dangers of hate in wake of state track meet
San Francisco Chronicle (archive.ph)
By Marisa Ingemi
2023-05-29 00:10:10GMT
Runners competed in the girls’ 1,600-meter run at the 2023 state high school track and field championships in Clovis (Fresno County) on Saturday. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
CLOVIS, Fresno County — After the California Interscholastic Federation stated that two girls did not participate in the state track and field championships Friday due to personal safety concerns, a few protesters still arrived at Buchanan High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday and social media attacks continued.
Athena Ryan of Sonoma Academy-Santa Rosa and Lorelei Barrett from Buckley-Sherman Oaks did not show to the qualifying trials. Both had qualified for the 1,600-meter girls race amid widespread hate campaigns against trans athletes.
Schuyler Bailar, a trans man who competed for the Harvard men’s swimming team for four years, has seen this many times.
“I’ve talked to so many young trans people who are afraid to enter sports because of the amount of hatred,” he told The Chronicle. “Especially anyone who was assigned male at birth. All this only furthers discrimination against people who already experience that.”
Ryan had finished second in the North Coast Section Meet of Champions’ 1,600 to qualify for the CIF state championship, but was singled out by numerous conservative news outlets ad social media accounts, who said she was trans and thus should not have participated. Barrett faced similar pushback, primarily on social media.
“The CIF is disappointed for two of our student-athletes and their families because due to the actions of others, they found it necessary to withdraw from the State Track and Field Championships out of concern for the student’s well-being,” the CIF said in an emailed statement to The Chronicle on Friday. “The CIF strongly denounces discriminatory or harassing behaviors that impact our student-athletes’ opportunities to participate in interscholastic competitions.”
Neither Ryan, Barrett nor their respective schools would comment. The CIF has not commented since Friday.
Adeline Johnson of Branson-Ross, who had been latched onto by anti-trans groups for a thumbs-down gesture when she initially did not qualify for the state meet, also did not show for the race despite having qualified when another runner pulled out to focus on a different race. Jocelyen Pacheco of Granada Hills was the fourth runner who did not participate.
At the NCS Meet of Champions in Dublin on May 20, some members of the anti-trans group WomenAreReal held up a banner that read “Protect Female Sports.” They were removed from the premises. A few protesters tried to bring signs into the meet Saturday, but the signs were confiscated.
“It’s all really awful at the end of the day,” said Shiwali Patel, the director of justice for student survivors at the National Women’s Law Center, who leads policy development addressing gender-based harassment in schools. “We celebrate when trans women and girls do well in sports. They should be able to do well and not be barraged with attacks and hate.”
According to the CIF, “California law permits students to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s record.”
Bailar’s 100-yard breaststroke time ranked him in the top 15% of all NCAA men’s swims for the season and in the top 34% of all NCAA Division 1 swims for the season. Trans women and girls have come under harsher attack than trans men and boys, due to a perceived but scientifically murky advantage from people assigned male at birth.
World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, posted new rules in March prohibiting “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty” from female world-rankings competitions. In April, the Biden administration proposed a rule to prohibit schools from banning transgender athletes from competition, but anti-trans laws have passed in 21 states.
As a trans man, Bailar found success, as many trans men and boys do, despite claims of disadvantage being assigned female at birth. But he has continued to witness harassment and attacks toward trans people, and also cisgender women who suffer as a consequence of hate campaigns.
On May 20, at the Southern Section Masters event, a spectator appeared to repeatedly shout “Trip her!” at Barrett during the 1,600 in a video that went viral.
“It’s propaganda based on lies, because science is for the inclusion of trans people,” Bailar said. “These statements like ‘what is a woman’ or ‘women equals adult female’ are harmful to cis women too, because it reduces a woman to her reproductive capacity in order to distinguish her from a trans woman. That is not a primary cornerstone of feminism — women are more than their bodies.”
Bailar said the events of this weekend can be traumatizing for other trans athletes to witness and and can discourage them from competing or even coming out due to fear of violence or harassment. He said he hasn’t undergone the same level of vitriol as the athletes in the CIF, but noted that kind of thing is overwhelming to see for trans people, athlete or not.
“I think everyone has to speak up clearly and loudly against any kind of harassment or threats to any young person,” said Shannon Minter, the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. “I think every responsible person would agree on not treating children in a demeaning way. We have to put a stop to this dangerous, toxic environment being allowed to thrive.”
Marisa Ingemi covers women's sports, hockey, and more for The San Francisco Chronicle. She comes from Seattle via Boston, where she attended Boston University and worked as an NHL beat reporter. She lives with her cat, Noelle, who is from New Hampshire, like her. When not working, Marisa enjoys cooking, going to the movies, and exploring zoos and animal sanctuaries.
San Francisco Chronicle (archive.ph)
By Marisa Ingemi
2023-05-29 00:10:10GMT
Runners competed in the girls’ 1,600-meter run at the 2023 state high school track and field championships in Clovis (Fresno County) on Saturday. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle
CLOVIS, Fresno County — After the California Interscholastic Federation stated that two girls did not participate in the state track and field championships Friday due to personal safety concerns, a few protesters still arrived at Buchanan High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday and social media attacks continued.
Athena Ryan of Sonoma Academy-Santa Rosa and Lorelei Barrett from Buckley-Sherman Oaks did not show to the qualifying trials. Both had qualified for the 1,600-meter girls race amid widespread hate campaigns against trans athletes.
Schuyler Bailar, a trans man who competed for the Harvard men’s swimming team for four years, has seen this many times.
“I’ve talked to so many young trans people who are afraid to enter sports because of the amount of hatred,” he told The Chronicle. “Especially anyone who was assigned male at birth. All this only furthers discrimination against people who already experience that.”
Ryan had finished second in the North Coast Section Meet of Champions’ 1,600 to qualify for the CIF state championship, but was singled out by numerous conservative news outlets ad social media accounts, who said she was trans and thus should not have participated. Barrett faced similar pushback, primarily on social media.
“The CIF is disappointed for two of our student-athletes and their families because due to the actions of others, they found it necessary to withdraw from the State Track and Field Championships out of concern for the student’s well-being,” the CIF said in an emailed statement to The Chronicle on Friday. “The CIF strongly denounces discriminatory or harassing behaviors that impact our student-athletes’ opportunities to participate in interscholastic competitions.”
Neither Ryan, Barrett nor their respective schools would comment. The CIF has not commented since Friday.
Adeline Johnson of Branson-Ross, who had been latched onto by anti-trans groups for a thumbs-down gesture when she initially did not qualify for the state meet, also did not show for the race despite having qualified when another runner pulled out to focus on a different race. Jocelyen Pacheco of Granada Hills was the fourth runner who did not participate.
At the NCS Meet of Champions in Dublin on May 20, some members of the anti-trans group WomenAreReal held up a banner that read “Protect Female Sports.” They were removed from the premises. A few protesters tried to bring signs into the meet Saturday, but the signs were confiscated.
“It’s all really awful at the end of the day,” said Shiwali Patel, the director of justice for student survivors at the National Women’s Law Center, who leads policy development addressing gender-based harassment in schools. “We celebrate when trans women and girls do well in sports. They should be able to do well and not be barraged with attacks and hate.”
According to the CIF, “California law permits students to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s record.”
Bailar’s 100-yard breaststroke time ranked him in the top 15% of all NCAA men’s swims for the season and in the top 34% of all NCAA Division 1 swims for the season. Trans women and girls have come under harsher attack than trans men and boys, due to a perceived but scientifically murky advantage from people assigned male at birth.
World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, posted new rules in March prohibiting “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty” from female world-rankings competitions. In April, the Biden administration proposed a rule to prohibit schools from banning transgender athletes from competition, but anti-trans laws have passed in 21 states.
As a trans man, Bailar found success, as many trans men and boys do, despite claims of disadvantage being assigned female at birth. But he has continued to witness harassment and attacks toward trans people, and also cisgender women who suffer as a consequence of hate campaigns.
On May 20, at the Southern Section Masters event, a spectator appeared to repeatedly shout “Trip her!” at Barrett during the 1,600 in a video that went viral.
“It’s propaganda based on lies, because science is for the inclusion of trans people,” Bailar said. “These statements like ‘what is a woman’ or ‘women equals adult female’ are harmful to cis women too, because it reduces a woman to her reproductive capacity in order to distinguish her from a trans woman. That is not a primary cornerstone of feminism — women are more than their bodies.”
Bailar said the events of this weekend can be traumatizing for other trans athletes to witness and and can discourage them from competing or even coming out due to fear of violence or harassment. He said he hasn’t undergone the same level of vitriol as the athletes in the CIF, but noted that kind of thing is overwhelming to see for trans people, athlete or not.
“I think everyone has to speak up clearly and loudly against any kind of harassment or threats to any young person,” said Shannon Minter, the legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. “I think every responsible person would agree on not treating children in a demeaning way. We have to put a stop to this dangerous, toxic environment being allowed to thrive.”
Marisa Ingemi covers women's sports, hockey, and more for The San Francisco Chronicle. She comes from Seattle via Boston, where she attended Boston University and worked as an NHL beat reporter. She lives with her cat, Noelle, who is from New Hampshire, like her. When not working, Marisa enjoys cooking, going to the movies, and exploring zoos and animal sanctuaries.
