Federal Lawsuit From Oregon Athletes Seeks to Bar Transgender Competitors From Girls’ Sports
Three Oregon high school track and field athletes have filed a federal lawsuit calling for transgender students to be banned from all future girls’ events in the state, and to strip them of all sports records previously earned in girls’ competitions.
Governor Named as a Defendant as Functional Head of the Oregon Department of Education
They have named as defendants the Governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, and the Oregon Schools Activities Association.
The students named Kotek as the functional head of the state Department of Education, and the association as the overseers of interscholastic sports and activities for Oregon high schools.
They also name the Newberg School District where two of the plaintiffs attend school, the Forest Grove School District attended by the third plaintiff who recently graduated, and Portland Public Schools where transgender athletes have competed in girls’ track and field competitions.
Trump Ordered Investigation Into Portland Public Schools
President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into Portland Public Schools, which received about $1.8 billion from the government last year. Trump has signed an executive order saying he will end all federal funding to states that allow transgender students to compete in girls’ sports.
After this ruling, Oregon education leaders issued rules in April disallowing transgender students from competing in athletic events that do not match their gender.
In the lawsuit filed in the Oregon U.S. District Court on Monday, the three athletes allege that they were forced to withdraw from competitions in protest during the 2024-25 school year, or were outranked by transgender competitors.
The three Oregon athletes say they were placed lower in statewide Oregon high school rankings because of the inclusion of transgender competitors.
The Three Oregon Students
Plaintiff Madelyn Eischen, an 18-year-old recent graduate of Forest Grove High, withdrew from the girls’ high jump at a meet on 18 April because of the inclusion of a transgender athlete in the event.
Also withdrawing in protest from the same meet was S.N.C. of Newberg, who, according to the litigation, hurt her chances of selection for a scholarship or college admission.
The third plaintiff, S.C. of Carlton, was placed third in the girls’ 200-meter and 400-meter dashes at a 2024 state track and field championship, where a Portland transgender athlete finished first and second.
The lawsuit was brought by the America First Policy Institute, founded by federal administration officials who state in the lawsuit that the three students went unrecognized in the statewide athletics rankings because of the inclusion of transgenders in the events.