Rally against males in girls' cross-country puts Washington girls’ sports initiative in spotlight

(The Center Square) - A couple hundred people gathered Wednesday in southwest Washington for a rally dubbed "Camas Courage" in support of a group of female high school cross-country athletes who have refused to compete against a male who identifies as a girl.

The rally was organized by parents, students and supporters who want to keep males out of girls’ sports, and it coincides with a ballot measure Washington voters will have the final say on.

I-638 asks voters if males should be prohibited from competing against girls and women in school sports.

Camas flash point

Last month, a male athlete who identifies as a girl competing on the cross-country team at Camas High School switched from the boys' team to the girl’s cross-country team, prompting several girls to walk out of competition in protest.

Joel Retzlaff’s daughter Sierra was one of the first students to refuse to compete against the male athlete. She is a student at Skyview High School, which is in the same district.

She and teammate Charlie Garrett both walked off after the male athlete who identifies as a girl from Camas switched to the girls’ team.

“We got word about a week before the meet that there was going to be a boy competing against my daughter. This was going to be his first race running as a girl,” Retzlaff told The Center Square during the Wednesday rally in Camas.

He showed up at the early September meet with signs urging the protection of girls’ sports and ended up receiving a one-year no-trespass notice for driving through a bus zone as he left the meet, after being told he could not remain on school property with his signs.

“The more of these girls that stand up, the more power it will have, and the more eyes will see it and the more votes we’ll get for (the initiative)," he said.

Peggy Retzlaff, Sierra’s mom, addressed the crowd of some 200 at the Wednesday rally.

“We just knew that it was not OK for a biological boy who was running JV to take a girl's spot on the varsity team.”

She urged those at the rally to support I-638.

“We can make a change for our girls. We have the power to protect their locker rooms, to protect their hotel rooms, to protect every starting line and court by stepping up and voting for this for future seasons and competitions,” said Peggy Retzlaff.

As the rally concluded, most of the crowd walked across the street to watch the Class 4A District 4 girls cross-country championship.

A female student from Battle Ground walked off the course before the start, also in protest of having to race against a male.

The male athlete who identifies as a girl from Camas finished second in the girl's race.

Washington Interscholastic Activities Association policy allows students to participate in sports based on their gender identity, and the male athlete who identifies as a girl was supported by some who attended the Camas Courage rally.

“As a trans person and somebody who was a trans child, I think it's disgraceful this recent uproar of trans hate that is created by Republicans,” said an activist who uses the name Plastic Martyr. “It wasn't an issue before, now, all of a sudden, this is manufactured issue.”

“Ganging up on just a few trans students, simply because they're different from you, is not the solution. And that is going to lead to people committing suicide, which I know the Republicans would gleefully celebrate, but it is not the solution.”

Brian Anderson, Washington state director of Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender, supports I-638.

“I want Democratic politicians to know that a majority of Democratic voters oppose males in girls’ sports. Fourteen-and fifteen-year-old girls should not have to turn into political activists because adults are failing them. I want to show that us Democrats are here supporting these girls as well,” Anderson said.

He pushed back on opponents who suggest girls will have to undergo invasive exams if I-638 is passed by voters.

“Everybody gets a physical, starting from the time that you were born. Doctors know what people's sex is. All the initiative requires is in the sports physical process to document the athlete's sex. It’s just a scare tactic,” he said.

Anderson said the Democratic Party is not representing where the majority of Democratic voters come down on the issue.

“Possibly it's because of the fundraising that trans advocates give to the Democratic Party. I think they raise a lot of money for them. So, my guess is that's one of the reasons they don't want to stop supporting these issues.”

On Wednesday, SEIU-775 Ballot Fund made a $500,000 donation to No Hate in WA State, the political action committee opposing all three of the initiatives on the ballot.

In addition to SEIU-775, No Hate is funded primarily by the Washington Education Association and Planned Parenthood, among other organizations.

The group's website makes several claims about the need for invasive physicals, despite the language of the initiative.

"If I-638 passes, at least every two years all girls who want to participate in sports will have to be sex certified by a doctor as a new part of their sports physicals using 'reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels,'" the website said.