Latest news with #VeronicaGarcia
The Sun
03-06-2025
- General
- The Sun
Transgender athlete, 17, tells critics to ‘get a life' as they are booed after winning girl's state track race
TRANSGENDER athlete Veronica Garcia has told their detractors to "get a life" after being booed at a state track championship in Washington. The 17-year-old blew away their 400m rivals by a whole second and played a big role in their East Valley of Spokane team-mates winning the 4x100m relay race. For the second year in a row, Garcia, the first transgender athlete in the state of Washington to win a track title, was heckled by track goers. The Seattle Times claims scores of attendees booed when Garcia - who is permitted to compete against biological females as students in Washington state can participate in sports based on their gender identity - stood on the podium after cheering loudly for their counterparts. That wasn't the only backlash Garcia had to deal with as a man wearing a 'Save women's sports' t-shirt - shouted: "Let go, girls!" The man, who made his feelings known during the warm-up, also shouted: "Girls' race!" Garcia fully "expected" to be hounded given the reception they received last year. But unlike last year, they had a defiant message for the minority in attendance who targeted them. Garcia said: "It maybe didn't have their intended effect. "It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I'm going to push. 2 "I'm going to put this in the most PG-13 way, I'm just going to say it's a damn shame they don't have anything else better to do. "I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people." Garcia could care less about her critics, insisting: "I'm really proud of myself. "I did what I came to do, and that's good enough for me." Garcia pipped Lauren Matthew to victory in the 400m, although their rival insisted they were the "real champion" with a homemade sign. Garcia also had to endure a rival school wearing tees which read 'Keep Women's Sports Female' before and after the 4x400m relay.
Fox News
02-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
High school girls stage protest after trans athlete wins 2nd straight state track championship
Veronica Garcia's state championship is being met with tons of backlash. Garcia, a senior at East Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, took home the girls' 400-meter 2A state title on Saturday. Garcia is a transgender female. Garcia, according to the Seattle Times, was heckled before the race and was booed after it. But the criticism did not end on Saturday. With students back at school after the weekend, high school girls decided to take matters into their own hands. Numerous girls from Tumwater High School in Tumwater protested during school hours with a large banner sign that read, "This is not a walk out (sic). We are not going anywhere." Other signs read "XX," "protest female sports" and other similar messages. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) issued the following statement to Fox News Digital: "The WIAA continues to proudly represent the 225,000+ student-participants across the state. The Association is aware of the protest by Tumwater HS students." The Tumwater girls' team finished in third place in the meet. Reese Heryford finished in 15th place in a preliminary run for the 400 meters, failing to be in the necessary top eight to qualify for the final. Garcia said the boos were "expect[ed]." "I'll be honest, I kind of expect it," Garcia told the Seattle Times. "But it maybe didn't have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in I wanted to give up, but angry as in I'm going to push. "I'm going to put this in the most PG-13 way. I'm just going to say it's a damn shame they don't have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people." Garcia, who ran the race in 55.70 seconds, won by over a full second. That time would have been the slowest by any boy, even in the preliminary rounds. Garcia also won a state championship last year and complained about the lack of sportsmanship from fellow competitors. Garcia's victory came roughly a week after the Quilcene School District in Washington voted, 3-2, to keep sports competition based on athletes' birth gender, a move that defies state law. The WIAA, enacted in 2007, allows transgender students to participate based on their gender identity. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to keep biological boys out of girls' and women's sports, but Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal, who once said it would be "inaccurate" to say there are only two genders, said the order defies state law. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
02-06-2025
- General
- Fox News
Trans athlete fires message toward critics after dominating girls' 400 for state title
Verónica Garcia, a transgender competitor, has been on top of the competition in the girls' 400-meter races during the Washington state outdoor season in 2025 and finished in first place during the state championships on Saturday. Garcia, who competes for East Valley High School in Spokane, took home the title in the 2A race for the second straight year. Garcia finished first in the 2A Greater Spokane League District Championship on May 23 and won several other regular-season races over the course of the year. On Saturday, Garcia told The Seattle Times there were boos from the crowd that didn't agree that biological males should compete against girls in sports. However, Garcia fired back with a defiant message after the race was over. "I'll be honest, I kind of expect it," Garcia told the outlet. "But it maybe didn't have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I'm going to push. "I'm going to put this in the most PG-13 way. I'm just going to say it's a damn shame they don't have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people." Garcia finished with a time of 55.70, more than a full second faster than the second-place finisher who clocked in at 56.75. Garcia also won a state championship last year and complained about the lack of sportsmanship from fellow competitors. Washington has been among the states to defy President Donald Trump's executive order to keep men out of women's sports. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA)'s Representative Assembly proposed two amendments to its policies earlier this year that would keep girls' sports to biological females only and potentially offer an open division if student-athletes were interested. The proposals were advisory votes only and no changes to the rules were made. Washington officials have cautioned that any proposed change would violate state law. BELOW VIDEO IS FROM 2024: Washington state law requires local educational agencies to allow transgender students to participate in interscholastic sports "that most closely aligns with their gender identity," according to the WIAA. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Daily Mail
02-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Transgender athlete sends defiant message to critics after dominating girls' high school track meet
A transgender athlete told their critics to 'get a life' after they were booed for dominating a girl's state track championship in Washington. Veronica Garcia of East Valley of Spokane won the 400m by nearly a second at the championships on Saturday. Garcia also helped their school win the 4x100m relay. In 2024, Garcia became the first transgender athlete in Washington State to win a state track title and this weekend the 17-year-old was heckled by fans for the second year in a row. As reported by the Seattle Times, supporters cheered loudly for every other athlete during the medal ceremony, only for boos to ring out when Garcia's took to the podium. Earlier, during the warm-up, a man - wearing a shirt that read 'Save women's sports' - shouted 'Let's go girls!' and 'girls' race!' But the defiant 17-year-old hit back at her critics, telling the Seattle Times that the abuse was 'expected'. Look at the girls on the podium when the rightful champ, Lauren Matthew, is announced vs when the boy who stole her state title is announced. She is applauded. He is booed. Audio on. — Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 31, 2025 'But it maybe didn't have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I'm going to push,' Garcia said. 'I'm going to put this in the most PG-13 way, I'm just going to say it's a damn shame they don't have anything else better to do. I hope they get a life. But oh well. It just shows who they are as people.' The 17-year-old continued: 'I'm really proud of myself... I did what I came to do, and that's good enough for me.' Lauren Matthew, who came second in the 400m, was pictured holding a homemade sign which crowned her the 'real' champion. Before and after Garcia competed in the 4x400m relay, athletes from a rival school wore black T-shirts that read 'Keep Women's Sports Female.' In Washington, students are allowed to participate in sports based on their gender identity. That is despite Donald Trump signing an executive order - entitled 'Keeping Men out of Women's Sports' - and a string of controversial incidents involving transgender athletes this weekend. In California, AB Hernandez claimed gold in the high jump and triple jump at the state finals. A masked pro-trans protestor was also arrested at the event after being witnessed using a Progress Pride flag to attack a demonstrator. In Oregon, meanwhile, two female high jumpers refused to stand alongside a transgender rival on the podium at this weekend's high school state championships. Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School abandoned the medal ceremony in an apparent protest of a fifth-place finisher, who is reportedly transgender. Reese finished fourth in the state final while Anderson was third. Rather than taking their spots on the podium, footage obtained by Fox News showed the girls turning their backs to the crowd before being ushered away from the ceremony by an official.
