High school student-athletes to boycott to protect girls' sports from transgender participation

Just two weeks before the election, the Coalition to Protect Kids is calling for a "girlcott," in which female high school student-athletes in New York are encouraged not attend practices and games to "protect women's sports."

The protest against the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls' sports will take place next Thursday, Oct. 24, dubbed "Walk Off for Fairness Day."

The protest, promoted with the hashtag #girlcott, pursues two objectives: to spread the word about an initiative in the hands of the State Board of Regents to unify female and male sports in high schools, and to incite New Yorkers to vote against Proposition 1.

The latter is a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would add "gender identity" as a protected class. It would thus join race, color, creed and religion in Article 1, Section 11 of the State Bill of Rights. And, the Coalition to Protect Kids claims, it would open the doors of women's sports to trans athletes.

"Girls are being systematically canceled in this state, and ‘Walk Off for Fairness Day’ will give them a safe opportunity to make their voices heard," Ayesha Kreutz, a spokeswoman for the organization, told The New York Post. 

She continued: "So many of these young women are afraid of speaking out, so they’re forced to watch as 50 years of female athletic progress gets washed away by destructive ideologues. Girls are not second class citizens, so why are they being treated that way?"

"High school students in New York - one of the most liberal states in the country - have finally had enough," commented Sarah Parshall Perry, a senior analyst at the Heritage Foundation. "More of this please."

'Trojan horse'

The New York Supreme Court in July dismissed a request to block the referendum, allowing the proposal to appear on the November ballot.

As soon as this ruling became known, New York Republican Party chairman Ed Cox described Proposition 1 as a "Trojan horse," saying it "grants boys and men the right to compete in girls and women’s sports, by elevating ‘gender identity’ to a constitutional right."

He also claimed that, if applied to all citizens, it would allow minors access, without parental permission, to puberty blockers and gender reassignment surgeries.

The local Republican Party supported the boycott.