Oregon girls who went viral for refusing to stand on podium with trans athlete file lawsuit
Two of the state's girls' track and field stars, Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon School Athletics Association (OSAA) after an incident on May 31 when they refused to stand on a medal podium with a transgender competitor at a state title meet.
Footage of the stunt went viral, as Anderson later told Fox News that officials instructed them to step away from the podium and get out of the shots of photos.
Their lawsuit alleges that the OSAA not only excluded them from official photos, but also withheld their medals. The suit argues that the girls' First Amendment rights were infringed upon by the officials.
"I recently competed against a biological male at my state track and field meet, another girl and I decided to step down from the podium in protest to the unfair competition environment," Anderson told Fox News Digital. "I am fighting to keep women's sports XX and prevent biological males in women's sports from becoming normalized. By doing this, I hope that all future generations of female athletes will have a safe and fair opportunity to excel within their sports."
Fox News Digital reached out to the OSAA for a response.
The girls are being represented by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).
"These young women earned their place on the podium – and the right to express themselves," said Jessica Hart Steinmann, executive general counsel at AFPI. "Instead of respecting their viewpoint that girls' sports should be for girls only, Oregon officials sidelined them. The First Amendment protects the right to dissent – school officials don't get to reprimand students who refuse to agree with their beliefs."
AFPI is also representing fellow Oregon girls' track and field athletes Maddie Eischen and Sophia Carpenter in a separate lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Education for its policies that allow biological males to compete in girls' sports.
Carpenter and Eischen cited their experience in withdrawing from a meet that featured a trans competitor on April 18.
"For [Carpenter] the psychological and emotional weight of that moment became overwhelming—she felt helpless, demoralized, and betrayed by the institutions and adults charged with protecting her equal opportunity for fair play. Ultimately, she realized that she was unable to participate in the high jump that day and withdrew from the event," that lawsuit alleges.
Both Carpenter and Eischen previously told Fox News Digital the experience was "traumatic."
"My experience at the Chehalem track meet and scratching myself from the meet was traumatic, something I never imagined ever having to do," Eischen said.
Carpenter added, "It was emotionally traumatic trying to know what I should do and how I should respond to competing with [the trans athlete]."
Carpenter said she found herself so overwhelmed with emotion from the experience, that she cried on the ride home after the meet. Now, despite being faced with "fear" of potential retaliation for filing a lawsuit, the two girls are officially in it and charging ahead with a legal battle that could garner plenty of national attention.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Trump admin cracks down on Oregon and Virginia for defying Title IX and women's sports executive order
The U.S. Department of Education ramped up its campaign against schools defying Title IX and President Donald Trump's executive order on Friday. Secretary Linda McMahon announced actions against the states of Oregon and Virginia for their policies on gender ideology. In Oregon, McMahon is launching an investigation against the state's Department of Education (ODE) after a high school sports season that featured multiple incidents involving trans athletes in girls' sports that garnered public attention, and two lawsuits over the matter. "If Oregon is permitting males to compete in women's sports, it is allowing these males to steal the accolades and opportunities that female competitors have rightfully earned through hard work and grit, while callously disregarding women's and girls' safety, dignity, and privacy. Title IX does not permit that shameful arrangement, and we will not tolerate it," said Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for the DOE's office of civil rights (OCR). On Thursday, Oregon girls' track athletes Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard filed a lawsuit against the Oregon School Athletics Association (OSAA) after an incident at the state's track and field championships on the last day of May. Anderson and Eckard alleged that the OSAA not only excluded them from official photos, but also withheld their medals. The suit argues that the girls' First Amendment rights were infringed upon by the officials. Earlier in July, two other female students, Maddie Eischen and Sophia Carpenter, filed a lawsuit against the ODE and OSAA for its policies that allow males to compete in girls' sports after an incident where they withdrew themselves from a track meet in April, because a male was set to compete against them. Both Carpenter and Eischen previously told Fox News Digital the experience was "traumatic." "My experience at the Chehalem track meet and scratching myself from the meet was traumatic, something I never imagined ever having to do," Eischen said. Carpenter added, "It was emotionally traumatic trying to know what I should do and how I should respond to competing with [the trans athlete]." The U.S. DOE investigation directly cites the lawsuits and the firm representing the athletes, the America First Policy Institute. Fox News Digital has reached out to the ODE for a response. Meanwhile, Friday also saw the DOE OCR announce an update on its investigation against five school districts in Virginia for "allegations of discrimination on the basis of sex." The OCR concluded its investigation and determined that the five school districts had violated Title IX. The investigation was based on complaints alleging that the Divisions have similar anti-discrimination policies pertaining to "transgender-identifying" students, which violate the sex-based protections of Title IX. "Although this type of behavior was tolerated by the previous Administration, it's time for Northern Virginia's experiment with radical gender ideology and unlawful discrimination to come to an end. OCR's investigation definitively shows that these five Virginia school districts have been trampling on the rights of students in the service of an extreme political ideology," Trainor said. "The Trump Administration will not sacrifice the safety, dignity, and innocence of America's young women and girls at the altar of an anti-scientific illiberalism." The five school districts now have 10 days to come to a voluntary agreement with the Trump administration or risk a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice. The DOJ has already launched lawsuits against officials in Maine and California for those states' policies that allow trans athletes in girls' and women's sports.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Dissenting FCC Commissioner: Paramount Chose 'Capitulation Over Courage' In Dealing With Trump
Though the Federal Communications Commission approved the Skydance-Paramount merger Thursday, one commissioner is speaking out against what she says has been an 'erosion of our First Amendment protections.' 'After months of cowardly capitulation to this Administration, Paramount finally got what it wanted. Unfortunately, it is the American public who will ultimately pay the price for its actions,' commissioner Anna M. Gomez said. More from The Hollywood Reporter Paramount Co-CEO Chris McCarthy Set to Exit After Skydance Merger Paramount-Skydance Merger Approved by FCC, Clearing Way for $8 Billion Deal Close 'South Park' Lives: Paramount Inks New Deal With Creators, Library Moving to Paramount+ Gomez notes that the transfer of Paramount's broadcast licenses to Skydance was approved by a vote of 2-1 at the FCC, which is led by Brendan Carr, and that she had dissented. She pointed to the 'unprecedented' moves taken by the FCC to help broker the deal, which she notes include the elimination of DEI programs and putting controls on newsroom decisions at CBS, including agreeing to appoint an ombudsman that will report directly to the president of CBS News and 'who will receive and evaluate any complaints of bias or other concerns.' On July 1, Paramount agreed to a $16 million deal to resolve a lawsuit filed by President Trump against 60 Minutes over an interview conducted with Kamala Harris. The settlement was largely seen as paving the way for the merger with Skydance. Trump has also said that he anticipates receiving at least $20 million in advertising, public service announcements or similar programming from Skydance as part of a settlement. 'In an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom. Once again, this agency is undermining legitimate efforts to combat discrimination and expand opportunity by overstepping its authority and intervening in employment matters reserved for other government entities with proper jurisdiction on these issues. Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law,' Gomez wrote. 'After the FCC buried the outcome of backroom negotiations with other regulated entities, like Verizon and T-Mobile, I urged for us to bring the Paramount proceeding into the light. I've long believed the public has a right to know how Paramount's capitulation evidences an erosion of our First Amendment protections, and I'm pleased that FCC leadership ultimately agreed to my call for every Commissioner to vote on this transaction. Granting approval behind closed doors, under the cover of bureaucratic process, would have been an inappropriate way to shield this Administration's coordinated campaign to censor speech, control narratives, and silence dissent,' she continued. 'Despite this regrettable outcome, this Administration is not done with its assault on the First Amendment. In fact, it may only be beginning. The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country. But such violations endure only when institutions choose capitulation over courage. It is time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America,' Gomez wrote. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'This Is a Dangerous Thing': Why One FCC Commissioner Is Sounding the Alarm on Paramount's Deal
When the FCC approved the Paramount-Skydance merger Thursday, one commissioner blasted the decision, calling it an act of 'cowardly capitulation' on behalf of Paramount and warning that this could lead to a further 'erosion of our First Amendment protections.' The commissioner, Anna M. Gomez, is one of three leaders at the FCC, in addition to Chairman Brendan Carr and fellow commissioner Olivia Trusty, and is the only Democrat on the commission. She was a Biden nominee and appointed to the post in 2023. More from The Hollywood Reporter Dissenting FCC Commissioner: Paramount Chose "Capitulation Over Courage" In Dealing With Trump Paramount-Skydance Merger Approved by FCC, Clearing Way for $8 Billion Deal Close 'South Park' Lives: Paramount Inks New Deal With Creators, Library Moving to Paramount+ The commissioners voted 2-1 Thursday to approve the Paramount-Skydance deal, with Gomez dissenting and condemning the 'unprecedented moves' by the 'once-independent FCC' used to broker the deal, including the elimination of DEI programs and putting controls on newsroom decisions at CBS, including agreeing to appoint an ombudsman to evaluate complaints of bias. Her dissenting vote was largely related to those issues, rather than the merger itself, as well as Paramount's $16 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit filed by President Trump against 60 Minutes, which was largely seen as paving the way for the merger with Skydance. 'The Paramount payout and this reckless approval have emboldened those who believe the government can—and should—abuse its power to extract financial and ideological concessions, demand favored treatment, and secure positive media coverage. It is a dark chapter in a long and growing record of abuse that threatens press freedom in this country. But such violations endure only when institutions choose capitulation over courage. It is time for companies, journalists, and citizens alike to stand up and speak out, because unchecked and unquestioned power has no rightful place in America,' Gomez wrote in her initial statement. Gomez, who has also been raising the alarm across the country in what she's calling a 'First Amendment tour,' spoke with The Hollywood Reporter Friday about what's been happening at the FCC and what she's urging the public to do. In your statement, you say you moved this from what you call a backroom deal to a full commission vote. Can you talk about why you pushed for the full commission vote? What the commission has been doing with these transactions is adopting them at the bureau level, so they're not done with a full commission vote. And what's happening is these companies are being pressured to agree to alter their practices in order to get approval of a transaction, and these practices that they're being pressured on are completely unrelated to the transaction themselves. When we approve a transaction, a license transfer, which is what was at issue with Paramount we determine whether it is in the public interest. We look at the benefits and we look at the harms caused by the transaction. Very often, if there are harms that are transaction specific, the parties will seek to mitigate the commission's concerns by committing to certain actions. In this case, and in other cases, what we have seen is the commission is demanding, not through votes, but through backroom deals, companies to give up, for example, any diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Now those are completely unrelated to any harms by the transaction, and in this case, they committed to basically imposing controls over newsroom decisions and editorial decisions, again, completely unrelated to the harms and benefits of the transaction. So the benefit of pulling this up to the commission level and having it as a vote is you take it from being a backroom deal to something more transparent. Something that the commission itself has to determine is, is this really in the public interest? Is the commission going to stand on the side of the First Amendment, or is it going to itself capitulate to this administration's demands related to controlling the media and diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which are, in and of themselves, also First Amendment protected practices? Can you characterize the conversations you were having with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty about this deal? The commissioners all talked about the importance of bringing this up to the commission level, and they all agreed. We always talk about transactions, but I don't want to share private conversations. What kinds of other deals could this set a precedent for? We have seen that the commission has demanded other parties to transactions before the commission to also capitulate on, for example, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs. For example, the commission approved the Verizon-Frontier transaction, which was a $20 billion transaction after a backroom deal in which Verizon agreed to eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Same with T-Mobile. So what this does is it opens the door for future abuse on any company coming before the FCC for regulatory approval. This is a dangerous thing. We cannot allow this perversion of our authority to continue. You've asked for companies, journalists and citizens to stand up and speak out about this. What does that look like in your mind? I have been working to shine a light on the abuses of this administration and the erosion of our First Amendment freedoms. I think that anyone who can shine a light and push back is helping protect our democracy. What do you see the FCC's role in that moving forward? What I would like to see is the FCC go back to its core mission and stop interfering with the freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of all of us. I've been on this First Amendment tour where I am raising my concerns and educating the public about the importance of the First Amendment and protecting our freedoms. And I would hope that people would demand accountability from those in power and push companies to find their courage to stand up for their rights and all of our rights and protect our democracy as they're doing so. Can you talk more about what you see as the repercussions of this merger approval? What I'm concerned is that what we are seeing is corporate parents capitulating in a cowardly way in order to advance their commercial interests. I am hopeful that will not happen. I think courage breeds courage. We've seen examples where parties will push back, and when they do so, it helps others to also gain that courage. All of these attacks are not grounded in anything other than abuse of authority. The facts, the law and the truth are behind us. All it takes is for enough people and entities to push back. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
