The head track and field coach at a high school in Oregon has been fired after writing letters to state officials expressing his concerns about allowing biological males to compete with girls.
John Parks, who had been employed at Lake Oswego High School since January of last year, says his contract was terminated shortly after he began speaking out against trans-identified males self-identifying into female races.
Parks explains that he first wrote the Oregon Student Activities Association with his concerns just before the controversial May 18 state championships where a trans-identified male student participated with the girls.
The student, Aayden Gallagher, had been the source of much outcry after dominating a number of races in the qualifying matches leading up to the state championships. In April, Gallagher won multiple awards in Girls Varsity races, but he finally secured his place at state on May 9 when he took two gold medals at the Portland Interscholastic League meet.
Gallagher ultimately seized first place in the Girls Varsity 200m at the championships, and was booed upon taking the winner’s podium.
Following the championships, Parks wrote another letter, this time to Oregon Senator Rob Wagner.
In the letter, Parks argued that current Oregon law, which allows males to self-identify into women’s sports, was creating an unfair playing field for female athletes.
“The OSAA competition rules need to be aligned with what the rest of the world competes under,” Parks wrote to Senator Wagner, referring to the hormone testing and restrictions enforced by the International Olympic Committee and other sporting bodies.
“My proposal to encourage transgender participation is to offer an open division that is so named so it doesn’t identify or discriminate but offers an opportunity to participate,” he continued in his letter. Parks says he does not oppose transgender students playing in school sports, but that separate categories were needed to ensure fairness for girls.
He also noted that mixed-sex competitions were becoming an issue for the trans athletes as well, pointing out that Gallagher had been ‘booed’ by the crowd during the state championships.
“I want them to be able to participate where they’re not ‘booed,'” Parks said, speaking to local KATU. He says he is now in the process of appealing his termination.
“I’m going to fight now because I got wronged,” he told KATU. “I … am fighting for girls, I’m fighting for female sports, and I’m fighting that it be fair for everybody.”
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