A nonprofit group is calling on the Department of Education to investigate Oregon for violating Title IX protections for female students.
The America First Policy Institute submitted a formal complaint to the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights accusing the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon School Activities Association of violating the rights of female student athletes.
‘Girls have already been edged out of the competition. It needs to end NOW.’
“Every girl deserves a fair shot — on the field, on the podium, and in life,” said AFPI’s Executive General Counsel Jessica Hart Steinmann. “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.”
The complaint included firsthand accounts from Oregon high school athletes describing the competitive and emotional harm from the policies. The accounts claimed that athletes were robbed of medals and had their rankings skewed. They also claimed the policies had a “chilling effect” on those speaking out about the competition policies, according to AFPI.
In April, a biological male won first place in the high jump at the Portland Interscholastic League Varsity Relays against female competitors. That same athlete had come in last place in the junior varsity category in 2023 against other males.
Later, a group of four high school female athletes took a knee and forfeited rather than compete against the biological male at the Therapeutic Associates Chehalem Classic.
RELATED: Male athlete wins girls’ high jump competition despite finishing dead last when competing against boys
Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
“We’re demanding a federal investigation, and the pressure can’t come soon enough — State Track & Field championships begin tomorrow,” said Leigh Ann O’Neill, the nonprofit’s chief of staff, on social media.
“Girls have already been edged out of the competition. It needs to end NOW,” she added.
The institute added that the Oregon school policies are also in violation of President Donald Trump’s executive order protecting female athletes from male competition.
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