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A trans high school sophomore in Maine has faced criticism for competing in the girls’ 5k cross-country competition, despite running last year as a boy.
Soren Stark-Chessa, a pupil at the private Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport, was ranked 172nd in the district as a freshman in the boy’s competition.
Over the course of the last year, Stark-Chessa transitioned, and now, as a sophomore, races in the girls’ competitions – where she is ranked fourth.
On Saturday, Stark-Chessa competed in the Maine XC Festival of Champions, in Belfast, and finished fifth.
As Stark-Chessa sprinted to the finish, in a time of 5:51:3, one person can he heard yelling: ‘Way to cheat, bro!’
Soren Stark-Chessa, a high school sophomore, is seen competing in the girls’ 5k. Stark-Chessa ran in the boys’ competition as a freshman
One young female runner told journalist Shawn McBreairty: ‘It is not fair to a female who has trained hard.
‘Males are biologically faster than females, with testosterone. They need to run under their biological gender.’
A mother, Katherine Collins from Winterport, Maine, whose children compete in track events, told McBreairty with Your News that she felt it was unfair.
‘Men are simply larger, faster, and stronger than their female counterparts,’ she said.
‘To compare, the top ranked female high school runner in all of New England would only be ranked 47th among high school boys in Maine.’
One father, a physician, whose two children compete in Maine’s high school cross country competitions, said it was profoundly unfair.
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‘If a boy, competing in a sporting event, were found to be using performance enhancing drugs, he would be disqualified due to the presumption of unfair competitive advantage,’ the father said.
‘If instead, that same boy chose to compete as a girl, he would not only not be disqualified due to his enormous presumptive competitive advantage, he would be lauded, feted and applauded.
‘For the boys, it would be tragic, for it teaches them things that simply do not apply outside of the very narrow time and place in which we currently reside.
‘For the girls, it is the grossest of injustices in every conceivable way, because it forces them to participate in, and to some extent accept, something which is manifestly false. They must, like it or not, participate in the lie.’
Stark-Chessa is seen in action on Saturday at the Festival of Champions
Some people booed on Saturday as Stark-Chessa ran to the finish line, coming fifth
Stark-Chessa’s school athletics director hit back, and said they were ‘proud’ of all their students.
‘We support all our students at Maine Coast Waldorf School, and are proud that our students are given the opportunity to participate in all of our school programs,’ said Susan Sonntag.
Sonntag said that the school adheres to the Maine law prohibiting ‘Unlawful educational discrimination’.
The controversy echoes that surrounding trans swimmer Lia Thomas, who competed for Penn – to the anger of many fellow swimmers.
Riley Gaines, a University of Kentucky swimmer who lost to Thomas, has now dedicated herself to campaigning to end the practice of allowing trans athletes in competitive school sports.
