Kennewick (Washington) School Board President Gabe Galbraith told Newsmax on Monday that the board has received an outpouring of support over its decision to ban transgender students from participating in girls' sports.
"We've received a ton of support actually, and it's been refreshing," Galbraith said during an appearance on "Wake Up America." "Typically, we only hear from those who don't support us, but the support has come from the track coaches themselves.
"This whole thing was brought about because we have a track coach who reviewed the data for over the last 30 years and she was very adamant that we take a stand on this. So, we did and just reaffirmed our belief that males should not be competing against females.
"In light of the Title IX changes, effectively erasing female sports, that the Biden administration took, it's just been one of those things we felt passionate about as having multiple board members who have daughters that play sports."
According to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), every student athlete is permitted to compete in programs consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed. Galbraith said that the organization's policy spurred his panel's decision to pass the ban in late June.
"Effectively, you could come out in the fall and say, I'm transitioning and I'm a girl now and so now I'm going to go compete in the girls events, and you could be a mediocre JV male athlete and then turn around and be a state record holder in a female sport," he said. "And so, that's the next piece of the work that we're looking to do.
"There's multiple school boards now that are looking into essentially lobbying the WIAA to look at their rules and hopefully more and more of the school boards that get on board with this, we're able to effect change with the WIAA, and possibly with the legislators, though it is Washington state."
Kennewick's resolution passed shortly after a transgender runner won first place in the 400-meter sprint at the WIAA track meet and Galbraith told Newsmax that it contributed to the timing and urgency of passing the measure.
"We always hear it'll never happen," he said. "It'll never happen to you. You'll never see it happen and all this stuff. And then all of a sudden, it does happen. It was a huge issue amongst just the community and the state once this happened. And so that was the urgency that we used to pass this effectively."
Galbraith said he has not personally spoken to the female student who lost the 400-meter sprint to the transgender student, but "heard through others that they were fairly upset."
"Nobody wants to stand up and say it because the minute you do that, you're a bigot, you're a racist, you're discriminating, you're doing this and nobody wants to deal with that," he added.
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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