Latest news with #SherwoodHighSchool
Mint
3 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Oregon high school girls REFUSE to stand with trans athlete on podium — Martina Navratilova reacts
Two Oregon high school athletes made headlines over the weekend after refusing to share the winners' podium with a transgender competitor at the girls' high jump state championships. Reese Eckard (Sherwood High School) and Alexa Anderson (Tigard High School) stepped down from the podium after a transgender athlete placed fifth. Anderson had placed third, while Eckard took fourth. Tennis legend and outspoken advocate for women's sports, Martina Navratilova, responded strongly to the incident on X (formerly Twitter). "Women and girls are punished no matter what they do in this misogynistic world…" Navratilova wrote. She added, "Feminists never asked for this. At least not the great majority of us… never." Navratilova responded to the growing debate on X (formerly Twitter), emphasising that women are being unfairly targeted for protesting rules they didn't create. "Stop blaming women for this. Women do not make the rules," she replied to a social media user's post. "Majority of women are against it too. Women get punished no matter what they do." Addressing the consequences faced by athletes who refuse to compete under current regulations, Navratilova added: "Because not competing can get you banned from the sport. The rules must change, and those are made by men mostly." In a broader critique of gender dynamics in sport and society, Navratilova continued in another reply to a user's comment: "The world is misogynistic, the world is patriarchal, and most of the rules are made by men. And all of the danger comes from men." Navratilova has repeatedly criticised Democratic lawmakers for not acting to protect women's sports. Earlier this year, she condemned Democrats for blocking the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. "I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women's sports being for females only," she said. Calling for stronger action, she urged: "Grow a spine." Navratilova referenced President Donald Trump's "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order, which was signed in February. She lamented that Democrats failed to support similar efforts. She questioned Democratic priorities, asking: "What are the Dems willing to give up for men who identify as trans? Abortion… the Constitution… rule of law… That's just for starters…" The incident and Navratilova's comments reignite an ongoing national debate around transgender participation in women's sports—a debate that continues to divide public figures, lawmakers, and athletic communities across the US.
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova reacts as Oregon HS girls refuse to share podium with trans athlete
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova reacted to two Oregon high school athletes who refused to stand with a transgender athlete following the girls' high jump state championships on Saturday. Reese Eckard, of Sherwood High School, and Alexa Anderson, of Tigard High School, stepped down from the podium and refused to share the spot with the transgender athlete who finished in fifth place. Anderson finished in third and Eckard in fourth. Footage obtained by Fox News Digital showed an official confronting Eckard and Anderson. "Women and girls are punished no matter what they do in this misogynistic world…" Navratilova wrote on X. She added that "Feminists never asked for this. At least not the great majority of us… never." Navratilova has been a major voice in the effort to protect women's sports. She has been particularly critical of Democrats who have failed to step up to the plate, with their Republican colleagues, to help pass legislation to prohibit males from competing in girls' and women's sports. At the start of the year, Navratilova criticized Democratic lawmakers who killed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The tennis legend called on Democrats to "grow a spine" in a post on social media. President Donald Trump signed the "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order in February, and Navratilova lamented that Democrats failed to do what the president did. "I hate that the Democrats totally failed women and girls on this very clear issue of women's sports being for females only," she wrote in a post on X. She then posed a question to Democrats as some states thumbed their nose at Trump's executive order. "What are the Dems willing to give up for men who identify as trans?" she asked on X. "Abortion… the Constitution… rule of law… That's just for starters…" Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
International Business Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- International Business Times
Two Female Oregon High Jumpers Refuse to Share Podium with Trans Athlete as They Leave High School Track and Field Championship
Two female high jump athletes refused to stand on the podium alongside a transgender competitor at this weekend's high school state championships in Oregon. Reese Eckard from Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson from Tigard High School have been widely praised on social media, with many calling them heroes, after they appeared to walk away from the medal ceremony in protest of the fifth-place athlete, who is reportedly transgender. Anderson finished third in the competition, while Eckard came in fourth. Video footage obtained by Fox News shows both athletes turning away from the audience instead of stepping onto the podium before an official escorted them away from the medal ceremony. Setting an Example "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." Anderson spoke to Fox News about her decision in an interview 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 among several states challenging President Donald Trump's executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," which warns of cutting off federal funding to states that do not comply. According to a recent AP-NORC poll, around 70 percent of U.S. adults believe that transgender women should not be allowed to compete in girls' or women's sports at the high school, college, or professional levels. That opinion is held by nearly 90 percent of Republicans and about 50 percent of Democrats. The athletic federation announced a policy change following Trump's warning that California could lose federal funding unless it bans transgender female athletes from girls' teams. However, the federation claimed that its decision was made prior to the federal threat. Going Against Trump's Orders The U.S. Department of Justice also announced it would launch an investigation into the athletic federation and the school district that oversees Hernandez's high school to determine whether they violated federal laws prohibiting sex-based discrimination. In California, state law allows transgender students to join sports teams that align with their gender identity, even if the teams are separated by sex. While data on transgender athletes participating in female sports is limited, NCAA President Charlie Baker testified in December that fewer than 10 transgender athletes are currently competing out of the roughly 500,000 collegiate student-athletes nationwide. Both the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association have affirmed that gender exists on a spectrum rather than being strictly male or female—a stance that contradicts the position taken by the White House in its January 20 executive order aimed at "defending women from gender ideology."
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Girls' track and field athletes standing next to trans competitor step down from podium at Oregon state championship
A pair of girls' track and field athletes have stepped off the podium alongside a transgender athlete for high jump at a state championship event. 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. "We didn't refuse to stand on the podium out of hate. 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," Anderson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 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. — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 1, 2025 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. Originally published as Girls' track and field athletes standing next to trans competitor step down from podium at Oregon state championship
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.
