Latest news with #GlencoeHighSchool
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
High school athlete details 'traumatic' incident with trans rival that left her feeling 'violated'
A female high-school swimmer has opened up on the 'traumatic' moment she found out she had been sharing a locker room with a transgender opponent after being kept in the dark by a rival school. Glencoe High School junior Lilian Hammond claims she unknowingly competed against and changed alongside a biological male on another swimming team during her sophomore year, having initially assumed they were also female. 'It wasn't until the last meet that I realized, "Oh, that is a trans person," and by that point it was too late,' Hammond said in an interview with Fox News. 'The shock that came was the mistrust and the lying, I felt very betrayed, I felt betrayed by the adults and the coaches on the other team that let it happen without my consent and my knowledge. 'My team didn't know, my coach didn't know… I felt very violated knowing that a man could have seen me changing.' Despite already dealing with trans students at her own high school using the girls' restrooms, Hammond was left traumatized by her experience on the swim team. 'At the time it was overwhelming and felt traumatic since I was kept in the dark,' she added. Hammond is far from alone in experiencing the issue of trans athletes in women's sports first hand, with more and more female athletes continuing to speak out. Riley Gaines, a leading voice in the fight against biological males competing in women's sports, has previously discussed the feeling of being 'violated' by sharing a locker room with a trans athlete herself. Last year, San Jose State University dominated headlines when their women's volleyball team reached a championship final thanks to the help of trans player Blaire Fleming. Oregon athlete Alexa Anderson, who recently went viral after refusing to stand on the same podium as a trans opponent, also spoke with Fox News about the 'scary' backlash she has received over the gesture. 'When me and Reese stepped down there was definitely some confusion, there was definitely some anger and just a lot of people who didn't understand why were were doing this, and it was scary. Everyone was looking at us," Anderson said. 'There was a lot of people on and off the field. I heard shouts of them telling us to get out of the way.' Hammond, meanwhile, admits her ordeal will influence how she votes in future political elections, given Donald Trump and the Republican party have openly taken a stand against trans athletes in women's sports over the past year. 'Just this last election, looking at the different beliefs between the two candidates, you had one candidate who openly believes biological men should be allowed in women's restrooms and women's sports, and was not doing anything, and then you had another candidate who said, "This will be one of the first things I change," and that's what Donald Trump did,' she said. 'In the future, that's something I'm going to look for.'
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
High schooler in Hillsboro crafts legislation to prevent high school vaping
Shaayan Sinha, a student at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, is behind legislation to install vaping detection devices in larger schools. (Photo courtesy of Shaayan Sinha) Shaayan Sinha, a student at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, had a problem at school. Not with classes or anything like that: Rather, he said, it was that every time he entered a restroom at the school, 'I was greeted with a thick cloud of vapor' from students who were vaping in violation of school policy. 'It gave me anxiety and fear even to even go to the bathroom,' he said. Most of us probably would have just held our noses and gone about our business. But Sinha wanted to do something to curb vaping on school property. So he turned to legislation. The 15-year-old sophomore is the driving force behind Senate Bill 544, a one-page proposal that would require high schools with more than 1,500 students to install vaping-detection devices in bathrooms and common areas. He persuaded Sen. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, to sponsor the bill and is lobbying other lawmakers for their support. Some have met with Sinha and signaled their backing. Others have shrugged off requests to meet. Still others have been – well, let's just say, less supportive. 'I've definitely faced some adversity,' he said. But he said he's thankful even for the difficult conversations. 'I've learned a lot about the Oregon Legislature and how it works, so I'm grateful for that,' he said. The bill has been referred to the Senate Education Committee, but it has not been scheduled for a hearing. Sinha began his work by gathering data about the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes among youth. The more he learned, the more alarmed he became. In 2019, for example, the Oregon Health Authority estimated that one in four 11th graders in the state was using a vaping product. Youth use of e-cigarettes grew 80% between 2017 and 2019, the health authority said. State health officials have warned that vaping can lead to addiction, citing a 2019 study that found that youth who vape are three times more likely to start smoking cigarettes. Vaping, just like smoking regular cigarettes, isn't allowed in schools or other public buildings. But the vapor from the e-cigarettes can be hard to detect without specialized equipment, so students are able to use the devices in restrooms and other areas without much fear of being caught. Sinha shared his findings with anyone who would listen — students, teachers, administrators, school board trustees, city councilors. Eventually, he met in a coffee shop with Sollman, whose district includes Glencoe High School. Sollman said Sinha initially wanted her to write a bill mandating the vaping detectors in large Oregon high schools. Sollman was alarmed by Sinha's information about vaping. But she had a counteroffer for the 15 year old: Why not pitch a bill to lawmakers yourself? She said it was an opportunity for a student to learn the legislative process from the inside. Working with members of Sollman's staff, Sinha wrote a problem statement and a proposed solution that the legislative counsel's office used to draft the bill. He created a one-page sheet about the proposal to share with lawmakers. And he's been working to get a few minutes with as many lawmakers as possible. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Education Committee. It has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. If it gets a hearing — and he knows that many bills do not — Sinha plans to testify on its behalf. Sinha understands some of the reasons for potential opposition: Since the bill doesn't identify a funding source for the detectors, which can cost $1,000 to $1,500 each, schools could consider it an unfunded mandate. That's part of the reason why the bill applies only to high schools with 1,500 or more students, Sinha said. The bill would affect only about three dozen high schools in the state, according to Oregon Department of Education enrollment data. And he said districts might be able to find other sources of money: For example, the Pendleton School District won a $50,000 grant from the Wild Horse Foundation to pay for installing vaping devices in its high school. Sinha discounted arguments that the bill criminalizes vaping: Rather, he said, it allows schools to better track violations of their policies, and it specifies that a district's penalties for violations cannot include suspension or expulsion. Sinha's crash course in legislative affairs could pave the way for a career in politics. Well, it could — if that were among his career plans. 'I really want to go into the medical field and be a neurosurgeon,' he said. 'One of the reasons that I'm doing this bill is not especially because I'm very interested in political careers. This is an issue that was really prevalent in my community, and I really want to solve it and I really want to make something better for my community.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
