Two transgender runners dominate state track championships
Controversy has erupted in Connecticut after Terry Miller broke the state record for girls in both the 100-meter and 200-meter runs.
Another Hartford-based sophomore, Andraya Yearwood, took home silver in the 100-meter dash.
Many parents are not happy with this because both Miller and Yearwood were born as boys.
Miller, in particular, turned in such a dominant performance that it rendered the competitions into glorified races for second place.
Terry Miller of Bulkeley wins the 100m girls dash i. 11.72 (meet record). Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell 2nd, RHAM’s Bridget Lalonde 3rd #cttrack pic.twitter.com/4GmLRyicDI
— GameTimeCT (@GameTimeCT) June 4, 2018
Terry Miller of Bulkeley sets another meet record in winning the girls 200m, 24.17 #cttrack pic.twitter.com/6hAaFApIwk
— GameTimeCT (@GameTimeCT) June 4, 2018
Unsurprisingly, Miller’s dominance reignited the long-simmering debate over transgender inclusiveness in athletics.
Some people congratulated Miller for the records, but others were not as thrilled that a person who was born as a boy was allowed to crush high school girls in an athletic endeavor.
SHE has a different pelvis, bone and muscle structure from the other competing girls. That's unfair advantage any way you want to put it. No hormone-taking or surgery will change this biological reality
— Inés (@inesrohl) June 9, 2018
Further complicating matters is that as recently as last winter, Miller was competing on the boys indoor track team. Miller then turned around and joined the girls track team.
It’s obviously a brewing hot-button topic in the world of sports, especially at the high school level where the difference in physical makeup can often be extra-pronounced.
While Miller and Yearwood’s parents assuredly want their children to be included and not ostracized, it’s also very fair to consider whether their opponents are being ostracized from the girls’ sport. To train and work hard for a chance to shine at the state championships, only to see someone who was literally racing as a boy just a few scant months ago win all the accolades, seems antithetical to inclusiveness and purported feminist beliefs.
Even the executive director of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, Karissa Niehoff, commiserated with the two girls who didn’t qualify for the New England regional championships because Miller and Yearwood raced with them.
“We do feel for them. Fully agree it doesn’t feel good. The optic isn’t good. But we really do have to look at the bigger issues that speak to civil rights and the fact this is high school sports,” Niehoff said, per the Daily Wire.
Gary Moore, a Connecticut high school coach, offered similar waffling sentiments, claiming transgenders should be allowed to compete while also saying something needed to be done to make things more fair for girls. Unfortunately for Moore, there is mounting evidence that that sort of duality simply isn’t feasible.
Some parents are not taking the matter lightly. According to WTNH-TV, local parents and students have started a petition for the CIAC to change the current structure. Unfortunately for them, they will likely have to this fight to the state level to see tangible change. CIAC rules are in strict accordance with Connecticut law that allows for students to compete on the team whose gender they identify with. That law has been in effect for nearly 10 years.
For now, it seems that transgenders in Connecticut will be allowed to compete in whichever sport they fit.
In related news, it seems like the debate over transgender athletes will not be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
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