Equality for Non-Transgender Athletes?

A transgender high school student who received two medals in a girl’s track and field championship would not have even made it past the preliminary races if she competed against other biological males, sparking a different kind of conversation about equalizing the playing field.

“Not only does she need to train to beat her fellow female athletes, now she should also train to beat the males?”

Nattaphon “Ice” Wangyot, a senior at Haines High School, is the first transgender woman in the state to compete against females in a girls’ track and field state championship. But if Wangyot competed against other biological males in the 200-meter dash, she would have placed 16th in the preliminaries and missed qualifying for finals. As a girl, though, she came in third place with a time of 27.3 seconds, according to results posted on the Alaska School Activities Association’s website. The student who came in third place in the men’s 200 ran nearly four seconds faster than Wangyot.

Wangyot would not have even come close to qualifying for 100-meter finals, though she took fifth place competing against females with a time of 13.36 seconds. That time would have placed dead last behind 16 males in the men’s preliminary 100-meter dash by almost a full second, which in track terms might as well be an hour.

Cue Jennifer VanPelt, who is calling foul after her daughter, a high school freshman, placed fifth behind Wangyot in the 200.

“At our state track and field meet, they award medals and a spot on the podium to the top 4. Allison placed 5th. We had no idea she was running against a male until after the race was over,” VanPelt told Rare News. “She was upset. How do you explain to her that not only does she need to train to beat her fellow female athletes, now she should also train to beat the males?”

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The all-time Alaskan record for the high school boy’s 200-meter dash is 21.90 seconds and was set in 1995. The fastest girl’s time is about four seconds slower and hasn’t been broken in 34 years.

Wangyot’s participation in a female competition incited a stir on social media. Some Facebook users applauded her bravery and impact on the LBGT community — others, like user Stephanie Leigh Golman Williams, challenged the fairness of a biological male competing against females.

“The DNA doesn’t change. What happened to protecting naturally born females? It is not fair nor equal and that is what Title [IX] was set up to do,” Williams wrote on Facebook, standing up for runner Aurora Waclowski, who “has been top three since freshman” year — but this time didn’t make it to the awards podium.

VanPelt responded to the thread of comments, asserting that it was actually her “daughter who finished 5th that missed out.”

“Ice” replied to the post: “If your kids have attitude and practice enough it gonna be more fun.”

VanPelt fired back, telling Ice to “reevaluate” her comment.

“If you were directing your comments towards me and my daughter I think you need to reevaluate what you said Ice. She is a phenomenal runner for a female. She happens to be the fastest female in the MatSu Valley. And she’s a freshman,” VanPelt wrote.

“I believe parents and athletes alike should be worried.”

“Obviously she is at a disadvantage to you because she was not born with the physical attributes you were as a male. It’s 100 percent science. Men are physically different than females. Your times would not allowed you to compete with the boys at state. So don’t start casting stones telling me my daughter isn’t good enough. Because she is.”

The Alaska School Activities Association adopted a policy on transgender athletes about two months ago that allows schools to decide at a local level whether competitors in each sport are decided by their biological or identified gender.

VanPelt worries Wangyot’s participation in the girls’ competition could set a dangerous precedent.

“I believe parents and athletes alike should be worried. Transgender [biological] males being allowed to compete in female events are being afforded an unfair advantage,” VanPelt asserted. “Males are physically different than females. That’s a scientific fact. Hormones and body modification cannot change that. Today it’s one transgender athlete. Tomorrow it could be half the field.”