Plaintiffs are also seeking to have records and qualifications earned by trans athletes removed.
Three Oregon student athletes filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday in an effort to prevent transgender girls from participating in women’s sports.
The three student plaintiffs, all of whom are track and field athletes, argue they are the victims of discrimination due to an Oregon law that allows students to compete on sports teams that match their gender identity, according to the official complaint.
The lawsuit also argues that trans athletes competing in women’s sports amounts to a Title IX violation.
The view out of an upstairs room at Roosevelt High onto the school's track and football field.
Rob Manning / OPB
The suit names the Oregon Department of Education, the Oregon School Activities Association, Gov. Tina Kotek, and the Forest Grove, Newberg and Portland Public school districts as defendants.
The plaintiffs are seeking a ruling that the defendants violated Title IX. They’ve also asked the courts to remove trans athletes from past women’s track meet results and award any records or qualifications to cisgender athletes who finished behind them.
And the plaintiffs are seeking an injunction preventing trans athletes from participating in school sports in Oregon in the future.
OSAA’s policy, dated winter 2019, says the organization allows “students to participate for the athletic or activity program of their consistently asserted gender identity while providing a fair and safe environment for all students.”
The lawsuit was brought by the America First Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for President Donald Trump’s policy initiatives.
The complaint cited one example of a transgender athlete, Ada Gallagher of McDaniel High School in Northeast Portland, who won multiple races at a track meet in March. The student’s victory led to the Trump Administration launching an investigation into Oregon’s largest school district.
“[Gallagher] displaced other female high school athletes and their teams from acquiring the necessary ‘points’ as a team to compete in championship events, which impacted the annual team rankings for female-only track and field teams,” the complaint states.
In an interview with OPB’s “Think Out Loud,” Gallagher said she plans on moving to Canada for her senior year, because “political figures in Canada aren’t bringing up trans athletes to get more votes.”
Related: Portland high school runner at center of national debate
One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed this week, Madelyn Eischen, graduated from Forest Grove High School this year. According to the complaint, she and a plaintiff identified as S.N.C. competed against a transgender athlete in the high jump in April.
“S.N.C. and her peers felt an overwhelming sense of resignation and fear that they were somehow in the wrong and were being bullied by school and OSAA officials,” the complaint states.
The lawsuit also notes that two transgender athletes entered their meets “flanked by a police and security escort around the field prior to [and after] the competition,” saying this constituted special treatment.
Education leaders in the Pacific Northwest have pushed back against Trump’s transgender student-athlete ban, which specifically affects trans women and girls.
Experts have estimated that only a small portion of all student athletes are trans. Sports scientists say there are instances in which being trans can be an advantage, some in which it can be a disadvantage, and some in which there’s no difference.
OPB reporter Elizabeth Miller contributed to this story.
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