Transgender student beats girls in high school athletics championships in Alaska; Female competitors complain
The parents of high school girls in Alaska are asking whether it is fair for schools to allow a male student who identifies as female to compete in sports activities for girls.
Nattaphon Wangyot, a transgender student at Haines High School, competed at the interscholastic track and field finals for females where she won all-state honors, taking third place in the 200-meter race and fifth place in the 1-2-3A 100-meter race. The 18-year-old senior student made history by being the first biologically male athlete to participate in female state championship competitions.
Under Haines High School's policy, Wangyot is allowed to compete in such activities. However, some people are asking if it is fair to let a biologically male teenager compete against females in sports, considering his obvious physical advantages.
"It's the DNA. Genetically a guy has more muscle mass than a girl, and if he's racing against a girl, he may have an advantage," Eagle River High School representative Peyton Young, who competed in another event, told KTVA.
Saskia Harrison, a student from Hutchinson High School and one of the girls who competed at the track finals, said it's not fair to allow a male-born athlete to participate in women's competitions.
"I'm glad that this person is comfortable with who they are and they're able to be happy in who they are, but I don't think it's competitively completely 100-percent fair," she said.
According to state law, schools can decide on their own if they will allow boys who identify as girls to participate in girls' sports competitions. The Alaskan School Activities Association director Billy Strickland said the rule was put in place because individual schools, which are aware of students who consistently identify with a different gender, are "in the best position" to deal with such cases.
Alaska Family Action expressed their concern over the issue, saying they believe such policies are not fair to girls.
In a press conference, the group, together with some local residents, said allowing males in female sports events are denying girls "the playing opportunities and scholarships otherwise available to them."
"Allowing students to play on teams of the opposite sex disproportionately impacts female students, who will lose spots on a track, soccer and volleyball teams to male students who identify as female," AFA executive director Jim Minnery said, as reported by Daily Caller.
