Latest news with #AlexaAnderson
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Oregon high school star reveals shocking message from officials after protesting trans athletes
Oregon track star Alexa Anderson has revealed she was ordered away from the high jump podium by angry officials after she protested the inclusion of a trans athlete. Anderson and fellow competitor Reese Eckard were filmed refusing to step onto the podium during the medal ceremony, in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher who is reportedly transgender. Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage obtained by Fox News showed the girls turning their backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official. Now, Anderson has revealed that the official was apparently deeply unimpressed by the gesture. She told Fox: 'We stepped off the podium in protest and, as you can see, the official kind of told us "hey, go over there, if you're not going to participate, get out of the photos". 'They asked us to move away from the medal stand, so when they took the photos, we weren't even in it at all.' Anderson had finished third in the competition while fellow protestor Eckard had just clinched fourth place. Anderson continued: 'It's unfair because biological males and biological females compete at such different levels that letting a biological male into our competition is taking up space and opportunities from all these hardworking women. 'The girl in ninth who should have came in eighth and had that podium spot taken away from her, as well as many others.' She added: 'This was my first time competing against a transgender individual and the first public stand I have taken in this issue. 'But I have privately supported all the other girls who have done the same.' Anderson insisted at the time, in a separate interview with Fox, that she was not trying to stir hatred towards the trans community. 'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. 'We did it because someone has to say this isn't right. 'In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.' Daily Mail has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for comment on the controversy. Oregon is one of several states challenging President Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which threatens to deny federal funding to rogue governments. The American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association have both stated that gender is a spectrum and not a binary structure, as the White House argued in its January 20 executive order 'defending women from gender ideology.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Martina Navratilova sends blistering message in defense of high jumpers who protested against a trans rival
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova has defended the two athletes at the Oregon high jump state championships who refused to step on the podium after facing a trans rival over the weekend. Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School have been praised as heroes on social media after abandoning the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third. Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage surfaced on social media that showed the girls turning their backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official. Navratilova saw the clip and reposted it, saying: 'Women and girls are punished no matter what they do in this misogynistic world…' She then replied to many of her followers who offered their own views about what is becoming a major talking point in school sports. In one notable reply, Navratilova wrote: 'Feminists never asked for this. At least not the great majority of us… never.' The 68-year-old Navratilova, one of the all-time greats in tennis who won 18 major titles in her career, has been a consistent voice in calling for lawmakers to protect women's sports and stop biological men from competing. She has also been a critic of Donald Trump but has lamented hesitancy from the Democrat party in following the lead of Republicans on the issue. In April, she said on X: 'I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women's sports being for females only.' Anderson, meanwhile, spoke to Fox News about her decision over the weekend. 'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. 'We did it because someone has to say this isn't right. 'In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.' Oregon is one of several states challenging President Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which threatens to deny federal funding to rogue governments. A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women's sports at high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats.
New York Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Oregon athletes leave high school track and field championship podium over trans competitor: video
Two Oregon high school athletes refused to share the podium with a transgender competitor at the state's track and field championships, footage shows. The female students — Tigard High School's Alexa Anderson and Sherwood High School's Reese Eckard — stepped down from the high jump podium as the winners of the competition were being announced across the Eugene stadium Saturday night. Anderson and Eckard had finished in third and fourth place, while Ida B. Wells High School's trans student Lia Rose tied for fifth. Advertisement Oregon high schoolers Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard stepped down from the high jump podium when a transgender teen tied for fifth place. America First Policy Institute Rose had competed in boys' track and field divisions as recently as 2024 and 2023, according to Fox News. Crowds were cheering for the athletes throughout the ceremony, and it remains unclear how the audience reacted to the protest. Advertisement A race official showed up shortly after Anderson and Eckard stepped down and ushered them away as they stood with their backs to the podium. It remains unclear if their standing at the competition was affected by the move. But the incident quickly gained attention online, especially after women's sports advocate Riley Gaines — who is staunchly opposed to transgenders athletes competing in women's sports — posted footage from it on X. Advertisement 'Watch this. Two female athletes in Oregon refused to stand on the podium because a boy was awarded a place,' Gaines wrote. 'Girls have had enough,' she added. The video was also picked up by other accounts — including 'Libs of TikTok' — which praised the athletes' act of defiance. It was just the latest incident where women's athletes have protested against transgender competitors in their division. Advertisement In April, women's fencer Stephanie Turner took a knee rather than competing with a trans person during a Maryland match, and was put on a year-long probation by USA Fencing for the move. And in May, 16-year-old high schooler Reese Hogan finished second to a trans athlete in California's CIF Southern Section Finals triple jump competition — but stepped up to the first place spot on the podium after her competitor stepped down.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Female Oregon high jumpers' stunning act of defiance after competing with trans rival at state championships
Two female high-jump competitors refused to stand alongside a transgender rival on the podium at this weekend's high school state championships in Oregon. Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School have been praised as heroes on social media after abandoning the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third. Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage obtained by Fox News showed the girls turning their backs on the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official. 'Two female athletes in Oregon refused to stand on the podium because a boy was awarded a place. Girls have had enough,' conservative activist Riley Gaines wrote on X. 'Girls have had enough.' Daily Mail has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for comment on the controversy. Anderson spoke to Fox News about her decision over the weekend. Oregon girls high jump state championships just finished. 2 of the females refused to step on the podium with the male competitor and an adult official relegated them to the sideline for refusing. THIS MUST END. — Leigh Ann O'Neill (@LaLONeill) May 31, 2025 'We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate,' she said. 'We did it because someone has to say this isn't right. In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.' Oregon is one of several states challenging President Donald Trump's 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' executive order, which threatens to deny federal funding to rogue governments. A recent AP-NORC poll found that about 7 in 10 U.S. adults think transgender female athletes should not be allowed to participate in girls and women's sports at the high school, college or professional level. That view was shared by about 9 in 10 Republicans and roughly half of Democrats. The federation announced the change after Trump threatened to pull federal funding from California unless it bars trans female athletes from competing on girls teams. The federation said it decided on the change before then. The U.S. Department of Justice also said it would investigate the federation and the district that includes Hernandez's high school to determine whether they violated federal sex discrimination law. California law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Statistics on transgender participation in female sports aren't comprehensive. However, in December, NCAA President Charlie Baker testified that fewer than 10 are competing among 500,000 collegiate student athletes in the country. The American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association have both stated that gender is a spectrum and not a binary structure, as the White House argued in its January 20 executive order 'defending women from gender ideology.'
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Girls' track and field athletes don't stand on podium next to trans athlete at Oregon state championship
A pair of girls' track and field athletes did not stand on the medal podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at the Oregon state championship on Saturday night. Footage obtained by Fox News Digital showed the two high school seniors, Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School, step down from their respective spots on the podium next to a trans athlete who represented Ida B. Wells High School. Eckard, in fourth place, and Anderson, in third, each finished ahead of the trans athlete, who tied for fifth place. But the two females faced the opposite direction as the other competitors received their medals from officials. The footage then showed an official confront the two young women, and gesture for them to move away. Eckard and Anderson were then seen walking away from the podium and standing off to the side. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oregon School Activities Association for a response. The trans athlete previously competed in the boys' category in 2023 and 2024, Fox News Digital previously reported. Eckard and Anderson were praised for not standing on the podium on social media, and were even shouted out by prominent conservative activist Riley Gaines. Girls and women making symbolic gestures to protest trans inclusion in sports has become a growing trend in 2025. On May 17 at a California track and field sectional final, Reese Hogan of Crean Lutheran High School stepped from the second-place spot onto the first-place medal podium after her trans opponent, AB Hernandez stepped down from it. Hogan's stunt was lauded on social media by Gaines and others. On April 2, footage of women's fencer Stephanie Turner kneeling to protest a trans opponent at a competition in Maryland, and subsequently getting punished for it, went viral and ignited global awareness and scrutiny against USA Fencing. Oregon is one of many Democratic-controlled states that saw transgender athletes compete in girls' track and field championships this weekend, with other highly-publicized incidents taking place in California, Washington, Maine and Minnesota. The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonpartisan research institute, filed a Title IX discrimination complaint against Oregon for its laws that allow biological males to compete in girls' sports on May 27. The complaint was filed to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, which has already launched Title IX investigations against the high school sports leagues in California, Minnesota, Maine and Massachusetts. "Every girl deserves a fair shot – on the field, on the podium, and in life," said Jessica Hart Steinmann, AFPI's executive general counsel and vice chair of the Center for Litigation, in a statement. "When state institutions knowingly force young women to compete against biological males, they're violating federal law and sending a devastating message to female athletes across the country." President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5 and his administration has made combating the continued enabling of trans athletes in girls' sports by Democratic states a priority. The U.S. Department of Justice has already launched a lawsuit against Maine for its defiance of Trump's executive order, and the president suggested on Tuesday that federal funding pauses could be coming against California amid the situation involving Hernandez. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
