Identities

Trans Athletes in California Miss Competition Amid Ongoing Harassment

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The two runners didn’t appear at the starting line for their scheduled 1,600-meter event at the California state preliminary championship.

Runners competing in a California track and field event
Keith Birmingham/Getty Images

Two transgender runners in California dropped out of the state’s preliminary track and field championship after a campaign of online and in-person harassment against them. The two runners—who had finished third and second place in the girls’ 1,600 meter event in separate sectional meets—didn’t appear at the starting line at the state event, the Los Angeles Times reported. Their absence came after ruthless online attacks and harassment at their earlier meets. A spectator shouted “Trip her!” at one of the runners, while another had anti-trans protesters show up to her meet. The state’s governing body told the Times it is “disappointed for two of our student-athletes and their families because due to the actions of others, they found it necessary to withdraw from the event.”

Read it at Los Angeles Times

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