A trans-identified male freshman from an elite school in California won the Women’s Varsity 400-meter race at the Prep League Championship Finals last week, defeating a number of more experienced female athletes to the title, including his own sister.
Paul Haaga, also known as “Lina,” won the girls’ final with a time of 59.45 seconds. His older sister, Sienna, finished second with 60.03 seconds.
Haaga attends the elite Polytechnic School in Pasadena, where tuition fees can reach $48,000 or more per year, while his sister attends the neighboring Flintridge Preparatory School. Haaga also helped his team take gold in the Women’s Varsity 4 x 400 relay to clinch first place by just under a second, once again pushing his sister into second place.
Despite only being a 14-year-old freshman, Haaga has already established himself as a strong competitor within multiple girls’ athletic disciplines.
Along with competing in track, he was described as “one of the key singles players” for the school in girls tennis, and has also tried his hand at basketball, swimming, lacrosse, and water polo. Haaga has participated on female teams and in female sports since his earliest years due to being transitioned at a very young age.
Haaga has been vocal about his demands to be included in girls’ sports. Speaking to The Guardian in January, when the debate around trans-identified athletes competing at the school or college level reached the Supreme Court, Haaga said that sports was his “life,” functioning as not just “a release and an escape, but also a way to connect with other people and make new friends.”
He claimed that any ban on trans-identified male athletes in female sports would make him “uncomfortable” and that it would result in him being “robbed” of the friends and opportunities he’s made in girl’s athletics.
Haaga claimed that the “political climate” on the trans sports question means that he now has to “worry every time [he steps] on the track or the court that somebody might disagree with [his] participation,” which he described as “really scary,” as he would have a “moment of bliss” stolen from him.
“We’re not trying to be monsters, or predators, or anything malevolent, we’re just trying to enjoy what we do, and we’re just trying to enjoy that release, and we’re just trying to find connection and a team and a community to support us,” he continued.
Despite Haaga positioning himself as belonging to an oppressed minority, he comes from a well-connected and wealthy family. His grandfather, Paul Haaga Jr., was at one time the acting President and CEO of NPR, which often takes a strong pro-trans line in their coverage, and is also a former trustee of the Facebook Oversight Board.
In a statement to Reduxx, a representative from HeCheated, an independent platform that tracks male participation in female sports, expressed frustration and disbelief that Haaga displaced his own sister in a girls competition.
“In instances where girls are denied fair competition and consequently lose titles and opportunities to boys, they should be able to rely on their families for support, even if the school administration opposes them,” the representative said. “While it is not uncommon for parents to favor a son over a daughter, this case presents an especially nightmarish situation in which the daughter has no familial support and no one to stand up for her right to be recognized as a deserving champion.”
In April of last year, Reduxx reported on the case of Charlie Rothenberger, a then 17-year-old student at Champlin Park High School in Minnesota, who, like Haaga, was transitioned by his parents at an extremely early age. Rothenberger, known as Marissa, was credited with helping his school’s team dominate at softball, playing as a starting pitcher for their fastpitch team.
Unlike Haaga, Rothenberger attempted to conceal his transgender status and many of his teammates and competitors were completely unaware that he was a boy.
One former teammate told Reduxx she thought he was just an “awkward” girl for many years, and that looking back on the fact that Rothenberger shared female facilities and bathrooms with them, “disgusted” her.
“Many players and I work so hard to achieve something through this sport and we find it unfair that our spot can be stolen from us,” the girl said. “This shouldn’t be allowed and boys can stay in boys sports and leave us girls alone.”
This February, 16-year-old sophomore student Kallie Keeler alleged that she was unknowingly matched up against a biological male in a girls’ wrestling competition in Washington, who proceeded to sexually assault her during the course of the match. In a video taken by her mother, Keeler’s face can be seen quickly twisting into an expression of panic and confusion. At one point, Keeler is visibly attempting to communicate something to her mother, who couldn’t initially understand her. Keeler later clarified that she had been saying: “Her fingers are in my (vagina).” Keeler let her opponent win the bout quickly to just get it over.
Her opponent, Taufa’ase’e Tei, also known as Trixie Tei, wrote on Instagram that it was “exhausting” to have to “constantly defend” his existence as a trans-identified man. “I didn’t choose to be different, I chose to be honest. I deserve respect, safety, and love just like any other girl. Even when the world feels harsh, my life still has value, and my voice still deserves to be heard,” Tei said on his now-deleted account.
Reduxx is your source of pro-woman, pro-child safeguarding news and commentary. We’re 100% independent! Support our mission by making a donation.
