A transgender teen athlete was booed as she crossed the finish line in a 400m race at the Oregon state championships.
Aayden Gallagher appeared to win her heat with a time of 55.25 seconds on Friday.
Her performance earned one of five spots from across two heats in the final due to take place Saturday.
The tenth grader came second overall across both heats behind Josie Donelson, who won her heat and narrowly pipped her to the top spot with a time of 55.04, Athletic Live reported.
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In a clip shared online, jeering could be heard in the background as Gallagher crosses the finish line.
Even prior to the win, her participation in the race has been criticized by Republican lawmakers, who called for a change to the regulations after Gallagher clinched a win during a previous 400m race.
Oregon State Activities Association rules allow athletes to participate in a category that aligns with their gender identity without the need to provide evidence of a medical transition.
The controversy was reignited after footage of Gallagher’s most recent race was shared by Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who campaigns against allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sport.
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The campaigner previously drew attention to Gallagher when she shared another video of the McDaniel High School sophomore cruising to victory in a race at the Sherwood Need for Speed Classic last month.
Gaines became an anti trans activist after she tied for fifth place with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in a 2022 swim meet. However, Thomas was handed the trophy over Gaines.
The Kentucky swimmer has since joined forces with a dozen college athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday, accusing it of violating their Title IX rights by allowing Thomas to compete at the competition.
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‘Oregon law has long prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,’ he wrote in a letter to his critics.
‘In 2019, the Oregon Department of Education amended its rules that ‘sexual orientation’ was defined to include ‘gender identity.’ The Oregon legislature likewise amended the definition of ‘sexual orientation’ to include ‘gender identity.”
* Original Article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13433699/amp/transgender-runner-oregon-state-champions-womens-400m-race.html?ito=smartnews