Transgender track and field star Andraya Yearwood says she has every right to compete alongside fellow female athletes despite a petition that is going around stating otherwise. The 17-year-old attending Cromwell High School sat with Linsey Davis of Good Morning America and addressed the concerns of parents and students who believe she has an unfair advantage.
"I want to speak for people that aren't looked at normal, or are basically outed, or put in a different group because of their differences," she said, sitting alongside fellow trans teammate Terry Miller.
Yearwood dominated her school's June 100-meter race at the State Open Finals, coming in second place. According to ESPN, as a freshman last year, she won the Class M outdoor state title in both the 100- and 200-meter races.
"There are people that are faster than me," Yearwood said. "I just think that some people are making it into a bigger deal than it needs to be."
Selina Soule competed against both teens during the summer event and lost. Her mother, Bianca Stanescu, started a petition to have the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) change its gender identity policy. WTNH News 8 reports the mother believes if the girls have not begun hormone therapy, they should run with a time comparable to their male counterparts.
Stanescu feels her daughter, who finished sixth in the 100-meter race, lost because something was "different."
Yearwood has also begun hormone therapy.
"When you look at the competitions, and they turn into a complete blowout, you realize something is different," she said. "My solution is to come up with something similar to [the] NCAA. If they did complete hormone therapy, just like the Olympics requires a waiting period, at that point they should be able to compete as a female."
Policies differ from state to state regarding transgender athletes. The CIAC follows state guidelines that say students can compete with the gender they identify.
Despite the controversy, the runner is already gaining recruiting interest from Harvard, University of Connecticut, Springfield College and West Point.
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