Connecticut high schooler Selina Soule appeared on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” on Tuesday night to discuss transgender athletes in women’s sports. Soule recently competed in a high-stakes competition where two biologically male transgender sprinters beat the field, taking first and second place by significant margins. Soule finished in 8th place, missing an opportunity to compete in front of college coaches by two places.
“I am very happy for these athletes and I fully support them for being true to themselves and having the courage to do what they believe in,” Soule told host Laura Ingraham. “But, in athletics, it’s an entirely different situation. It’s scientifically proven that males are built to be physically stronger than females. It’s unfair to put someone who is biologically a male, who has not undergone anything in terms of hormone therapy, against cis-gender girls.”
Ingraham, a former athlete at the same high school, jumped in to rhetorically ask what happens when transgender athletes start infiltrating other sports, too. What happens to girl’s sports, she wondered aloud.
The Fox host mentioned recent comments made by gay advocate and tennis star Martina Navratilova, who warned that women’s sports are headed down a dangerous path if biological males, who have a clear advantage over women physically, are allowed to compete in women and girl’s sports. Ingraham noted that Navratilova has been “trashed” for making such an obvious, data-proven point.
“What are other members of your team saying about this?” asked Ingraham.
“My teammates and my fellow competitors — we are happy for these athletes, of course — but we do think it’s unfair, and for us it is upsetting when we work hard all season and put in a lot of effort, only to turn up at the state meets and get beat by someone who is biologically a male and lose state championships over this,” said the high schooler.
Soule said student-athletes applying for colleges are already running into “major issues” because there is no specified way in Connecticut to differentiate between transgender girls and biological girls. So when college coaches review stats, they are looking at major discrepancies in times without any explanation, she explained.
The student-athlete has previously made similar comments about the issue. “We all know the outcome of the race before it even starts; it’s demoralizing,” she said, according to Fox News. “I fully support and am happy for these athletes for being true to themselves. They should have the right to express themselves in school, but athletics have always had extra rules to keep the competition fair.”
Andraya Yearwood, one of the transgender athletes who bested Soule, will likely attempt to qualify for this year’s National Scholastic Athletics Foundation (NSAF) national championships held in March, reported The Daily Wire.
“The group recently adopted new rules allowing pre-pubescent girls to participate with their affirmed gender, though no ages are specified. Post-pubescent transgender girls must have completed sex-reassignment surgery and ‘a sufficient amount of time must have passed’ after the operation or hormone therapy ‘to minimize gender-related competitive advantages,'” The Washington Times noted.
According to the NSAF website: “Freshman and Junior High School miles are limited to first 30 entries per gender that both meet the entry standard and pay for the entry … Junior High Mile is limited to the first 30 entries per gender that both meet the entry standard and pay for the entry.”
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