The girls’ track team from Brookline High School has won the Massachusetts High School State Finals after adding a biological male “identifying” as a female.
Brookline junior Chloe Barnes joined the team this season as a varsity runner. He helped the school win the 4×200 meter relay (with a time of 1:50.43) at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Northeast Invitational on January 14 this year.
🏃♂️Junior, non-binary identifying male, Chloe Barnes helps girls team win Massachusetts HS State Championships with performance in the hurdles
👉Girls hurdles = 33"h v. Boys hurdles = 39"h*Barnes pushed senior Shayla Quill out of the finals pic.twitter.com/cLzTEmlLJj
— ICONS Women (@icons_women) March 14, 2023
A video of the race shows Barnes easily running far ahead of the natural-born girls he is competing against, allowing his teammates to stay safely in the lead for the race, New Boston Post reported. In fact, Barnes can even be seen slowing down at least twice and looking behind at the female runners he was leaving in the dust. Still, despite that, the girls could not close the distance. Barnes’ race can be found at the 5:57:45 mark.
The school newspaper, The Cypress reported in June of last year that as a Sophomore, Barns trained with the girls’ team but did not compete with the boys because he was “fearful of the public’s response” if he were to compete as a girl.
“I’m in an arrangement with my coaches where I practice with the girls’ team but compete on the boys’ team,” Barnes said at the time. “It was more a result of me just being afraid of other people watching [me] race.”
That “fear” apparently evaporated this season as Barnes has now fully joined the girls’ team and is suddenly propelled the school to victory.
The Public Schools of Brookline ruled as far back as 2014 that boys claiming to be girls were welcome to compete as girls.
“Students who are transgender may participate by the gender identity they consistently assert at school. Interscholastic athletic activities are addressed through the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Gender Identity Policy (MIAA) clarification,” the PSB policy states, according to the school newspaper.
The district was not first on the issue, though. The approach was initially approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education policy, called Guidance for Massachusetts Public Schools Creating a Safe and Supportive School Environment – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity.
“Where there are sex-segregated classes or athletic activities, including intramural and interscholastic athletics, all students must be allowed to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity,” the state’s policy notes.
Brookline girls’ track and field coach Lee Eddy also insisted that the school allow Barnes to make his own choice, regardless of the policy.
“Although there are laws that govern what we’re supposed to do and everything else, I don’t think Brookline would ever run afoul, even without the laws. I’m sure they would fully support any individual,” Eddy said piously.
For those who oppose his participation as a girl, Barnes has a defiant message.
“Deal with it. Just deal with it,” Barnes crowed.
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