A dozen Washington state girl athletes just made national news by protesting rules that made them compete against a boy, but the state’s adults may make far bigger news next month by voting to toss those same rules.
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adults → make → rules
At a cross-country-team race Tuesday, the Camas HS girls did something their coaches presumably hadn’t trained them to do: They walked off the course.
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They → do → course
They were refusing to compete against a male teammate; other girls from rival Battle Ground also chose to walk the course in protest.
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girls → refuse → protest
Yet while it was the girls who left the race, it was the adults responsible for this travesty who stole their chances to compete — and that may soon change.
The male runner, Logan Mihailoff, began the season competing for Camas in the boys’ junior-varsity division, finishing 76th at a Sept. 5 race.
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runner → leave → race
A few weeks later, he switched to the girls’ division.
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he → switch → division
His performance — er, relative performance — suddenly soared: On Sept. 26, he finished second among 195 girls in a race at the Nike Portland Invitational.
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he → soar → Invitational
Three days later, he won a girls’ varsity race against Union HS, finishing ahead of every single one of the 45 biological female runners.
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he → win → runners
At the Oct. 10 Hole in the Wall Invitational, an elite girls’ tournament, Mihailoff finished 39th among 135 girls in the elite race; his time would’ve placed him last among the 159 finishers in the boys’ elite race.
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time → finish → race
On Tuesday he finished second in the girls’ varsity 5,000-meter event, beating at least a dozen girls.
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he → finish → girls
Pro-trans advocates argue that there are so few boys competing in girls’ sports that it’s a non-issue.
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it → argue → sports
They cite percentages and ask why anyone should care.
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anyone → cite → percentages
Yet while only one boy might identify as a girl, 100 female competitors may be impacted.
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competitors → identify → girl
Two Skyview HS female runners, Charlie Garrett and Sierra Retzlaff, began the protests.
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runners → begin → protests
At a September meet against Camas, they lined up with messages supporting women’s sports painted on their bodies, then stepped off the course.
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they → line → course
“We did it because we didn’t want to act like we were OK with what was happening,” explained Retzlaff.
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Retzlaff → do → it
Camas says it is following state law and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rules, which permit participation based on gender identity.
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which → say → identity
That bureaucratic explanation leaves girls with a miserable choice: accept the unfair competition or sacrifice your own opportunity.
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explanation → leave → opportunity
Other Washington athletes know that choice.
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athletes → know → choice
Tumwater HS basketball player Frances Staudt refused to play against a male opponent.
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Staudt → refuse → opponent
She faced a school investigation over allegations of harassment and misgendering.
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She → face → harassment
Female wrestler Kallie Keeler alleges she wasn’t told she’d face a biological male opponent and that he sexually assaulted her during a girls’ tournament.
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he → allege → tournament
Prosecutors declined to charge the opponent, concluding they couldn’t prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
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they → decline → doubt
Keeler and her mother are now seeking changes to the rules that include advance notice and the ability to decline matches against males without penalty.
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that → seek → penalty
Ahnaleigh Wilson, an Eastmont HS runner who has spoken publicly about losing to a male athlete, found another way to push back: She showed up to support WNBA star Sophie Cunningham — and wound up sparking a national protest.
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She → speak → protest
The Indiana Fever guard wants “to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
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who → want → men
In July, her supporters gathered outside Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena before Cunningham and her team played the Seattle Storm.
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Cunningham → gather → Storm
Inside, Wilson and another teen girl held a sign thanking the Fever star.
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Wilson → hold → star
A Storm co-owner then confronted them, swearing at the girls and leaving one in tears.
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owner → confront → tears
Public backlash forced the team to apologize, and the co-owner received a fine and a five-home-game suspension.
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owner → force → fine
Cunningham backs the teenagers: “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe.”
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they → back → what
Wilson’s protest caught fire nationally.
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protest → catch → fire
And on Nov. 3, voters in Washington will decide whether to reserve girls’ school sports for biological females.
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voters → decide → females
Initiative IL26-638 would prohibit biological males from competing in designated girls’ school sports.
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IL26 → prohibit → sports
It would require verification of biological sex from the athlete’s personal health-care provider as part of the routine sports physical every athlete is required to take before competing.
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athlete → require → physical
If that citizen initiative can win in cobalt-blue Washington, it could have a national domino effect, like the rallies in support of Cunningham.
Democratic politicians elsewhere will have a harder time pretending that defending female athletes is some fringe Republican obsession.
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defending → win → athletes
Democrats shouldn’t be surprised if this generation of female high-school athletes votes red when it turns 18.
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it → vote → 18
The party that used to say it stood for feminism is betraying our girls, and the girls are fighting for themselves.
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girls → use → themselves
Ari Hoffman hosts “The Ari Hoffman Show” on Seattle’s Talk Radio 570 KVI and is the Post Millennial’s West Coast editor.
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Hoffman → host → Radio
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