A 14-year-old girl has bravely shared her disappointment and anger at losing a track meet to a transgender athlete.
Annaleigh Wilson, a freshman at Eastmount High in Washington State, came in second place at the Cashmere Junior Olympics regional track meet 1,600-meter race on May 18, losing to a transgender female athlete from Liberty Bell High School, Source One reported at the time.
She and her parents have since spoken out about the disadvantage she and other biological females faced at the invite-only competition, with Annaleigh sharing her story at a dinner event on September 22.
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She said the competition is a ‘pretty big deal’ and is ‘basically the championships for our area,’ and she had no idea that she would have to face a transgender athlete at the event.
‘I heard about this happening around the country, but I never expected to encounter it first-hand,’ Wilson told a crowd of more than 500 adults.
She then went on to say that she still did not even realize she was facing a transgender athlete as she took her starting position.
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It wasn’t until after Wilson finished in second by seven seconds to the transgender athlete that she discovered what happened.
She described how she heard a ‘commotion of upset adults and kids’ while she was standing on the podium.
‘That is when I heard that the athlete that was standing next to me on the first-place podium was a biological boy,’ Wilson said.
‘My heart sank and I felt extremely discouraged,’ she recounted.
‘I felt like all my hard work that I had put in throughout the year didn’t matter and that it was just going to be forgotten,’ Wilson said through tears.
Following the meet, Wilson said her and her family ‘spoke up about how unfair this was,’ not because she came in second but because ‘boys racing against girls at this level of competition isn’t right and it isn’t fair.’
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‘Our female voices need to be heard, because we are the ones that this is personally affecting,’ she continued, before describing the hate she and her parents have received for speaking out.
‘Adults have attacked my family and me for speaking up for fairness and protection of biological girls in sports,’ Wilson claimed.
‘My family and I have been told by adults that we are transphobic, that I am a sore loser and that I value winning more than a human life.
‘We have also been told that it will be our fault and that we will be the ones responsible if this transgender athlete takes their life, and then I was told that I am just simply not good enough, and that’s why I placed second.
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‘These words have affected me and it has hurt tremendously to hear all of these things because me and my family are some of the kindest people, who strive to love everyone and do what is right.’
Wilson then went on to say that she has had anxiety and panic attacks as a result of the vitriol, and has been ‘truing to prove to those who say I am not good enough by training even harder.’
But, she said, ‘what hurts the most is that no matter how hard I train or how hard I push myself, the likelihood of beating a boy is slim.’
Wilson concluded her short speech by saying, ‘Allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports isn’t working and it is not fair.’
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‘I hope we can find a solution for all athletes to compete fairly and safely, because at 14 years old, even I could see that the current rules aren’t working for biological girls or transgender athletes,’ Wilson said.
The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction currently orders public schools to allow students to participate in physical education and athletics that correspond to their gender identity, Source One reports.
Wilson’s parents, Elizabeth and Brendan, now say they are trying to get the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association – which governs interscholastic athletics – to change who is eligible for these invitational meets.
‘We don’t want any hate for this kid. It’s a child,’ Elizabeth told Source One following the meet. ‘But at the same time, I just want to know how do we protect our child as well?
‘We want sports to be fair,’ she said. ‘Our daughter puts a lot in to everything she does in sports.’
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She praised Wilson for her courage to stand up for what she believes in at the dinner last month, and previously told Fox News that she is ‘the rightful winner’ who ‘deserves to be deemed and called a champion.’
* Original Article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13948231/amp/Annaleigh-Wilson-disappointment-anger-losing-Washington-track-meet-trans-athlete.html?ito=smartnews