FREEPORT, MAINE: Soren Stark-Chessa, a transgender high-school sophomore from Freeport, Maine, has been facing harsh criticism for competing in the 5K competition for girls despite participating as a boy in 2022.
A student of Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport, Stark-Chessa came 172nd in the district in 2022 as a freshman male.
However, the teenager transitioned over the course of the last year and competed in this year’s girl race, per Daily Mail. Stark-Chessa came fourth in the run.
She also participated in the Maine XC Festival of Champions, in Belfast on Saturday, September 30, and came fifth.
The parents and students say 'it's not fair'
Some of the female competitors and their parents found Stark-Chessa’s participation in the competition to be unfair and unjustified.
A girl competitor told journalist Shawn McBreairty of Your News, who covered the event, “It is not fair to a female who has trained hard.”
The runner continued, “'Males are biologically faster than females, with testosterone. They need to run under their biological gender.”
Katherine Collins, a mother from Winterport, Maine, whose children compete in the cross-country race, said, “Men are simply larger, faster, and stronger than their female counterparts.”
She also gave the statistics, “To compare, the top-ranked female high school runner in all of New England would only be ranked 47th among high school boys in Maine.”
A physician father, whose two children compete in the Maine race, said, “If a boy, competing in a sporting event, were found to be using performance-enhancing drugs, he would be disqualified due to the presumption of unfair competitive advantage.”
He added, “If instead, that same boy chose to compete as a girl, he would not only not be disqualified due to his enormous presumptive competitive advantage, he would be lauded, feted, and applauded.”
The father further added, “For the boys, it would be tragic, for it teaches them things that simply do not apply outside of the very narrow time and place in which we currently reside.”
“For the girls, it is the grossest of injustices in every conceivable way, because it forces them to participate in, and to some extent accept, something which is manifestly false. They must, like it or not, participate in the lie,” concluded the disgruntled father.
School athletics director of Maine Coast Waldorf School defends Soren Stark-Chessa
The Maine Principals Association handbook has a "Gender Equity and Inclusion Policy" that states, “Consistent with its principles, the MPA believes that all students should have the opportunity to participate in MPA activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, unless such participation would result in an unfair athletic advantage or would present an unacceptable risk of injury to other student athletes.”
Susan Sonntag, the school athletics director of Stark-Chessa’s school, defended the runner and said, 'We support all our students at Maine Coast Waldorf School, and are proud that our students are given the opportunity to participate in all of our school programs.”
Netizens call Soren Stark-Chessa's participation in girls' race is 'unfair'
Netizens reacted in fury after the news of Stark-Chessa winning the competition went viral. Many of them even called it "cheating".
One of the social media users called it "unfair" and wrote, "Boys should not be allowed to participate in girl's sports. It is unfair."
"He is not the winner of this race. He did get first place in cheating, though," commented another user who got angry at the practice.
"Look at those people cheering a boy like he's doing something other than cheating a girl out of her rightful place," added another.
Another said, "They need their own league."
One user noticed, "Someone is cheering and says Let's Go Bro."
"Shame on him and his parents for encouraging his participation in girls’ sports," said another social media user.
Another user noted, "So he was beaten by the entire boys' team AND 4 girls? Maybe he is in the wrong sport."
