UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — When the Camas High cross-country runner’s name was called, Joel Retzlaff yelled, “That’s a man!”
Retzlaff is the outspoken father of Skyview High cross-country runner Sierra Retzlaff, who has publicly opposed competing against a biological male. But as Joel made that declaration, nobody walked up to the podium. The Camas boy, who switched to the girls’ team midseason, was nowhere to be found.
Camas coach Matt LeGrand — who’s in an impossible position — would not comment on why. But there’s a decent chance the runner didn’t want to face a crowd who knew that, by finishing seventh in regionals, he prevented an actual girl from advancing to state.
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We won’t mention that girl’s name here, but she ran for Puyallup High — which finished eighth in the girls’ 4A division. The top seven teams go on to state, and if not for the Camas runner’s contribution, Puyallup would have advanced.
That team’s coach also wouldn’t comment. Understandable. This is the story that, on Halloween, had almost everybody involved spooked.
The key word above is “almost,” because there were some people at that meet at Chambers Bay who were willing to speak up. One of them was Carol Brown, a three-time Olympian who won a bronze medal in rowing who can’t believe she’s on the front lines for an issue she thought was settled a half century ago.
“I fought for Title IX to be allowed to be in sports period, and so I’ve been fighting this battle. I never thought 50 years later I’d be fighting it again,” Brown said. “And I absolutely believe in rights for everyone to participate in sport, but for it to be fair and safe, it has to be based on sex.”
What do you think about this Camas runner displacing another girl?
“It’s absolutely unfair,” Brown said. “The girls put in work, and what I find the hardest to accept is that everyone is saying the girls’ voices don’t matter, their emotions don’t matter, their hard work and once again, like 100 years ago took a second seat to the males.”
The Camas runner started the season on the boys’ team, where he finished 76th in the season’s opening JV meet. After switching to the girls’ team, he has won a varsity meet and finished second three times. In the past two meets — first at districts last week and again at regionals Saturday — he placed just ahead of Skyview runner Charlie Garrett.
Safe to say Garrett wasn’t happy about that.
“I mean, it’s really frustrating. I was sad after my race because I was less than a second away [from beating the Camas runner],” said Garrett, admitting that beating him was a side goal of hers Saturday. “But I PR’d, and I qualified for state, so I shouldn’t be sad.”
What do you think about him not showing up on the podium?
“It shows why he shouldn’t be in it,” Garrett said. “He has a reason not to show up.”
But plenty more opposing the Camas runner’s participation showed up Saturday. One of them was Jasmin Faulk, the executive director of Women’s Liberation Front (WOLF) — who lost her job at a community college due to a blog post about how “biology still matters.” Her emphasis? That fairness in sports shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
“The issue is really about the safety and the fairness for women and girls,” Faulk said. “That’s why we’re here, that’s why WOLF has chosen to participate and be vocal on this. We have fought for women’s rights on all levels and in all areas and sports is just another one that is fairly agreed upon as a general view. This one’s an easy one for us to stand by.”
I mentioned to her that this doesn’t really feel like a right/left issue — that most Democrats support the separation of biological males and females in sports.
“It’s unfortunate, though, because the Democrats are not voicing that. I think that’s where the frustration is,” Faulk said. “It’s a lot easier for the right to take a stand on this one because they’ve kind of been consistent on this issue for a long time, but the Democrats, I think, have been quieted into it, and the fearmongering in the movement has been the hardest for a lot of people.”
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The fear is real. Despite this being an 80-20 issue, most people don’t want their name attached to their opinions on this matter. One male cross-country runner came over to the crowd wearing XX-XY Athletics gear and said, “I like your shirts” — but said he couldn’t accept a “save girls’ sports” bracelet or comment on the subject. A female cross-country runner took a picture with that same crowd and said, “You can believe you are something, but you’re affecting other people who are actually that and have worked really, really hard for this, and you’re taking away a spot from a girl who trained all season.” She approached me twice afterward to make sure I wouldn’t use her name or school.
But then there are people such as Dawn Land, who held up a sign Saturday reading “Girls deserve fair sports!”
“I think that this boy that is running in the girls’ race is grossly unfair. And I’m disgusted at the adults that allowed this to happen,” Land said.
Well, Tuesday, adults will have a chance to make sure this doesn’t happen in Washington state again. On the ballot is Initiative 638, which would prohibit biological males from competing in girls’ K-12 sports.
Carol Brown made a direct plea: “Vote yes if you believe in fair and safe sports for girls.”