A female high school track and field athlete who competed against a biological male described the reaction when she protested during the medal ceremony during an interview with Fox News on Monday.
Oregon student-athletes Alexa Anderson from Tigard High School and Reese Eckard from Sherwood High School stepped off the podium May 31 to protest competing against Lia Rose, a biological male who finished fifth, the New York Post reported. Anderson told “Fox and Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade that she and Eckard were “inspired” to object.
“After we pleased at the state track and field meet, me and Reese Eckard of Sherwood decided that we would step off the medal podium in protest to competing against a biological male,” Anderson said, adding after Kilmeade to asked about the reaction, “A lot of people were very confused and did not understand what we were doing, but after the fact we did receive a lot of support mixed in with some hate.”
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Officials reacted to the protest by ordering Anderson and Eckard away from the podium, refusing to allow them to receive their medals or be in the photographs, according to the Daily Mail. Anderson and Eckard filed suit against the Oregon School Athletics Association (OSAA) with representation by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) on Thursday, Fox News reported.
“We filed this lawsuit on behalf of Alexa and Reese against the Department of Education in Oregon for First Amendment violations. Title IX, which was meant to protect our girls, is now being weaponized against them,” Jessica Steinmann, executive general counsel of AFPI said. “And thank you so much to brave girls like Alexa for standing up for what she knows is right.”
“And any of our girls who dare to oppose or even question this woke movement are being reprimanded,” Steinmann continued. “You know, look, instead of respecting Alexa’s right, she was sidelined by that official. She was told to get out of the field. Did not get her medal, was not acknowledged and respected and her First Amendment viewpoint was suppressed.”
AFPI requested the Trump administration probe Oregon over allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports in a May 30 release. President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring the government recognized the “biological reality of sex” within hours of taking the oath of office Jan. 20, defining terms like male, female, man, woman, boy and girl, then signed an executive order barring federal funds from schools that allow men who identify as transgender women to play in women’s sports Feb. 5.
Kilmeade asked Anderson what led her to protest at the medal ceremony.
“I was inspired to do this because I don’t think that biological males in women’s sports is fair to any girl out there, just because they do have such a biological advantage that they’re taking opportunities and chances from hard-working girls and that needs to be stopped,” Anderson said.
“Placing at a state championship is so hard,” Anderson added. “It is so, so competitive. I train year-round, close to 16 to 20 hours a week just to be there. So, it’s a very hard thing to qualify for that meet and place.”
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