‘Aayden’ Gallagher, photo from New York Post on Twitter.
The usual conservative outlets carried the story of how ‘Aayden’ Gallagher, a male, won the Oregon Girls’ 6A 200-meter state championship race, and was roundly jeered by the spectators. But now even the liberal credentialed media are reporting on the story. From NBC News:
Transgender teen booed after winning girls’ track race at state championship
High school sophomore Aayden Gallagher won the 200-meter race at the state championship event in Eugene, Oregon.
By Matt Lavietes | Tuesday, May 21, 2024 | 6:12 PM EDT
A transgender teenager was booed at an Oregon sports stadium after winning a race during the state’s high school track and field championship over the weekend.
Multiple videos posted on social media show McDaniel High School sophomore Aayden Gallagher being booed by a crowd of onlookers as she crossed the finish line first in the 200-meter race at the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) Track and Field State Championships on Saturday. Boos could also be heard as the teenage runner received her gold medal at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, the videos show.
Gallagher’s win quickly went viral on social media, with some critics characterizing her participation in the girls’ division as unfair, arguing that those assigned male at birth are inherently stronger and faster than those assigned female at birth. Others hurled transphobic insults at the high schooler.
“Another proud moment for women’s sports!” Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer who has consistently spoken out against trans athletes participating on women’s sports teams, wrote sarcastically on X following the race. “Aayden Gallagher (male) just placed 1st in the Oregon state championship in the women’s 200m after placing 2nd in the 400m. Just listen to the audible BOOS. People are over this…& it’s about time.”
Libs of TikTok, a far-right social media account that is largely dedicated to mocking LGBTQ people and has more than 3 million followers on X, also condemned Gallagher’s win, posting about it several times over the weekend.
There’s more at the original.
Note that the NBC writer followed the typical stylebook, and referred to young Mr Gallagher by the feminine pronouns; as stated in our Stylebook, this site does not do that, but we also do not change the direct quotes of others. He also used the typical phrase “assigned male at birth,” as though the recognition of physical sex characteristics is somehow a subjective thing.
More, author Matt Lavietes tried to link the disapproval of Mr Gallagher’s win to conservatives and those “mocking LGBTQ people,” but he couldn’t avoid the most important part: the spectators in Oregon, a mostly liberal state, were also booing both his finish and when he received his pyrite medal on the stage.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t avoid doing something really radical, and telling at least part of the truth:
The backlash following Gallagher’s win is the latest flashpoint in a yearslong and divisive debate over whether trans athletes, and particularly trans girls and women, should be allowed to participate in sporting events that match their gender identities.
A majority of Americans, 69%, say that trans athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth, according to a 2023 Gallup poll of roughly 1,000 adults living in the United States.
A “backlash”? There is an obvious divide among those who wish to be accepting to the ‘transgendered,’ and those who recognize that males and females are simply different. There’s a difference between being polite to a ‘transgender’ person who is just there in a social setting — though, personally, I would not say anything which would somehow validate his delusions — and ignoring the objective reality of sex differences in situations in which they would actually make a difference.
Outsports, a site which strongly supports homosexual and ‘transgender’ athletes, said:
Gallagher is a transgender girl in a state that affirms her right to compete on a girl’s team. Oregon requires no medical or hormonal transition for trans athletes to compete in any gendered category, and the state allows nonbinary athletes to simply choose their gender category in sports, regardless of any medical interventions. . . . .
In the local coverage there seems to be an aversion to saying “transgender girl.” One anchor, Matt Templeman of Eugene’s KEZI-TV, referred to Gallagher as “A male student who competed against girls” and in a different report as a “biological male.”
Remember: telling the unvarnished truth is bad, bad, bad! Mr Templeman was correct, of course: Mr Gallagher is male, is biologically male.
Such doesn’t surprise Dr. Juniper Simonis. They are based in Portland and understand the science of the issue, with a PhD in biology. They also know the sports side as a four-time world champion roller derby athlete.
Simonis is also trans and concerned that some of the darker anti-trans elements may come to the light.
It was obvious that Dr Simonis is ‘transgender,’ given the pronouns used.
“This fight against trans athletes is going on even in places like Oregon,” Simonis noted. “It’s not just about athletes. There are bills introduced here every year. The prevalence of these bills making to a floor vote is scary, and Oregon is in that boat.”
“As good as it is as a state, there a lot of vocal bad people when it comes to trans acceptance,” they continued. “I fear a bit that this state meet is going to be a focal point for that.”
This is the part the activists just don’t get. If this were merely an issue over Bradley Manning wearing a dress, it wouldn’t be much of an issue. People could accept him for what he claims to be, or laugh at him behind his back, but it wouldn’t be something which would make all that much of a fuss.
But when it comes to athletics, people like Will Thomas and Mr Gallagher have tried to push the notion that claiming to be women actually makes them women, but their victories over actual women and girls only serves to point out the differences between ‘transgender’ women and girls and real women and girls. If someone was out to completely destroy the acceptance of ‘transgenderism,’ what would he be doing differently than Messrs Thomas and Gallagher?