Two female athletes declined to stand on the podium next to a transgender athlete during the awards ceremony for the high jump at the Oregon state track and field championships on Saturday night.
Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School stepped down from their positions on the podium in protest of the trans competitor from Ida B. Wells High School.
Eckard finished fourth in the high jump, and Anderson finished third; both female athletes defeated the trans athlete who tied for fifth. An event official then gestured for Eckard and Anderson to move away from the podium after they stepped down.
This was the first year in which the trans athlete competed in the girls category. He had competed in boys’ events in both 2023 and 2024.
The protest is part of a growing trend as of late, which has seen female athletes use their platform to voice dissent against the intrusion of trans athletes into girls’ and women’s sports.
Earlier this year, fencer Stephanie Turner took a knee in protest of having to face a transgender competitor during a collegiate competition in Maryland.
Oregon will likely face an investigation for its continued defiance of President Trump’s efforts to combat the spread of trans athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a nonpartisan research institute, has filed a Title IX complaint with the Department of Education against Oregon’s policy of allowing males to compete in female sports.
Should the department launch an investigation, Oregon would join California, Minnesota, Maine, and Massachusetts as states under investigation for Title IX violations.