Trans teen on girls track team divides LI town and could cost district $13M in funding

A transgender girl on a Long Island high school’s track team has ignited fierce debate over fairness in sports — and whether the district could lose all of it federal funding under a recent White House order.The controversy centers around a 6-foot, 14-year-old freshman on the girl’s varsity track team at William Floyd High School in Shirley.The unidentified student has “socially transitioned” to female, meaning she is not on hormone treatment and retains biologically male characteristics but identifies as a girl, according to the South Shore Press. Her presence since joining the team in March for the spring season has split the community and sparked multiple rallies both in support of and against her participation on the girls team.“I say let her run,” said Genesis Alfaro, a senior on William Floyd’s varsity flag-football team, to The Post.But foes, while saying they have no hate toward the LGBTQ community, argue the female track participant has an unfair competitive advantage as a biological male. “It’s wrong.It’s not about hate, it’s about fairness,” said a parent in the district who asked not to be identified.

“Imagine you practice, practice, practice, and then this kid comes along who is biologically a boy and dominates because he has a physical advantage.It’s not fair.”A member of the school’s girls varsity track team claimed that in practice, when students are supposed to be running at the same pace in warm-ups, the trans student “bolts” past everyone to the front, according to the South Shore Press.A group of student-athletes who asked not to be identified said they don’t necessarily care if a trans athlete competed with or against them but would feel uncomfortable if they had to share a locker room.A parent told the outlet that the trans student had been allowed to use the girls locker room, although a plastic sheet was used to separate the athlete from their female teammates.The controversy over the trans athlete ...