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 discriminate against athletes who are born female.
“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,” said Coalition to Protect Kids-NY spokeswoman Ayesha Kreutz.
“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?”
In April, the state Education Department issued draft guidance that would allow trans boys to compete on girls’ sports teams.
It also would allow boys — regardless of their gender identity — to play on girls’ teams if the school fails to offer a boys’ team in a selected sport.
If Prop 1 passes, these regulations could be protected in the state constitution, the coalition claims.
The guidelines have been put on hold following public outcry, at least until after the election.
The Republican and Conservative parties are urging voters — including parents and their student athletes — to reject what they consider progressive overreach.
“The Prop 1 ballot amendment would roll back the protections guaranteed to women and girls under Title IX of the Education Amendments signed into law by President Nixon over 50 years ago by giving biological males a constitutional right to compete on girls teams, and taking away the scholarships and playing time these young women have worked so hard for,” said state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox.
“Sixty-six percent of New Yorkers oppose this radical social-engineering change to our State Constitution, according to the latest New York Times/Siena poll. The New York Republican Party urges young athletes to join the ‘Walk Off for Fairness’ #GirlCott on Thursday, October 24th.”
Chimed in state Conservative Party chairman Gerry Kassar, “It’s hard to believe we’re even having the conversation that girls sports would be for anyone other than girls.
“We fully support ‘Walk Off for Fairness Day’ in New York, reminding young people that there is safety in numbers. Girls Sports must remain Girls Sports, and there should be nothing controversial in that statement,” Kassar added.
The main group backing Prop 1 accused opponents of running a scare campaign.
“There’s no bigger bully than the Coalition to Protect Kids – lying to students and parents to scare them into turning on each other,” said Sasha Ahuja, campaign director for New Yorkers for Equal Rights.
“Prop 1 is about protecting abortion permanently and preventing government discrimination, full stop — and they know it. In their desperation to make this amendment about anything else, the Coalition to Protect Kids is doing anything but.”