by WorldTribune Staff, March 15, 2023
A biological male who helped the Brookline High School girls’ indoor track and field team win the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 1 state championship said girls “need to deal with it.”
Chloe Barnes, a biological male who joined the team this season as a varsity runner, finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles (8.72 seconds), earning five points for Brookline in the championship meet. Barnes, a junior, finished 0.24 seconds behind the winner of the race, Sarah Dumas, a junior at Franklin High (8.48 seconds), the New Boston Post reported.
Brookline earned 63 points at the MIAA Division 1 state championship, outperforming Newton North (51 points) and Wachusett (43 points).
The Public Schools of Brookline ruled in 2014 that boys claiming to be girls were welcome to compete on girls teams.
“Students who are transgender may participate by the gender identity they consistently assert at school. Interscholastic athletic activities are addressed through the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Gender Identity Policy (MIAA) clarification,” the PSB policy states, according to the school newspaper.
Brookline girls’ track and field coach Lee Eddy insisted that the school allow Barnes to make his own choice, regardless of the policy.
“Although there are laws that govern what we’re supposed to do and everything else, I don’t think Brookline would ever run afoul, even without the laws. I’m sure they would fully support any individual,” Eddy said.
For those who oppose his participation as a girl, Barnes said: “Deal with it. Just deal with it.”
Earlier this year, video showed Barnes dominating the girls in his leg of the 4×200 meter relay at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Northeast Invitational.
“His form is horrible, but it didn’t really matter because his male bones and muscles gave him a much longer and more powerful stride, and the girls had no shot,” one observer posted online.
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