SALEM, Ore. – Twelve Oregon House and Senate Republican women have sent a letter to the OSAA asking for a change to policy when it comes to allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ high school sports.
The letter, sent to OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber, specifically addresses concerns the state representatives have with Policy 38 “Gender Identity Participation”. This policy, which is in the OSAA handbook, states “the OSAA endeavors to allow students to participate for the athletic or activity program of their consistently asserted gender identity while providing a fair and safe environment for all students.”
The women, which include Christine Goodwin (R-Canyonville), Kim Wallan (R-Medford), and Emily McIntire (R-Eagle Point), say they believe the policy has had the opposite of this effect. In the letter they cite a recent situation at McDaniel High School in Sherwood where a student who was biologically male competed in a girls’ track meet and placed in the top ten.
The Oregon representatives who signed the letter say that during the 2025 legislative session they will be working to “remove all records set by male students allowed to compete in girls’ sports and award those achievements to the biological female students who should have received the record or award.” Additionally they say they will be encouraging parents to pull their kids out of “competitions in which male athletes are allowed to participate” until OSAA changes the policy.
OSAA’s Policy 38 also states that it “will need to be reviewed on a regular basis based on improved understanding of gender identity and expression, evolving law, an societal norms.”
Read the full letter here.
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