Exclusive | NY high school students will participate in statewide walkout against trans athletes competing in girls sports

High school students across New York plan to participate in a walkout later this month to protest transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports.The statewide demonstration, set for Oct.24, is being organized by The Coalition to Protect Kids, a group that has strong backing from the Catholic Church and the New York Republican and Conservative parties.“It’s not right for boys to compete against girls in sports.

It’s a huge disadvantage for girls,” said Hannah Pompeo, a 16-year soccer player at Eden High School near Buffalo, who is participating in the “Walk Off for Fairness Day.”Millie McCormack, a student dancer at Somers High School in Westchester County said she and her sister, Beatrix, would also be taking part in the protest.“I don’t think it’s right for men to be in our safe spaces.We worked hard for places on our teams,” she said.

“Boys have physical advantages we don’t have.”The groups supporting the walkout oppose the controversial Proposition 1 measure on the ballot in the Nov.5 election.

Prop 1 — also called the “Equal Rights Amendment” — would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.New York already has among the strongest abortion rights laws in the nation and critics claim the ballot measure is unnecessary and just a ruse to try to boost Democratic turnout in competitive congressional and state legislative races, as well as for the White House.The proposal also asks voters whether they support or oppose adding language to the constitution stating that people cannot be denied rights based on their “race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” Opponents argue adding such expansive language would open the door to allowing athletes who identify as female and are born male to compete against women and girls, which they claim would dis...