Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal claims that it’s OK for boys to compete against girls because “their brains aren’t fully developed.”
The state education chief’s comments come on the tail of the controversy over the state’s rules allowing transgender students who identify as girls to compete in school sports on girls’ teams. The state rules are at issue after about a dozen girls on the Camas High School girls cross-country team walked out of a track event in protest over a boy being allowed to compete on their team.
The girls who walked off the field this week protested a boy who had been running on the boys’ team but switched to the girls’ team midseason. According to reports, the male student ranked 76th among the boys, but in his first contest as a girl, he finished second.
Despite the controversy, Reykdal told KIRO News Radio that it shouldn’t be a problem if boys are allowed to compete on a girls’ team.
He first tried to make an issue over girls having to “prove they are girls” to be able to play in school sports, and claimed that such testing would not be fair because boys don’t have to do that. But the radio host drilled down to the particular case at Camas High. In reply, Reykdal claimed he “doesn’t see it” as a matter of fairness.
“I don’t see it that way, I just don’t,” he explained. “These are young developing people whose brains aren’t going to fully develop until they’re 25.”
WATCH:
The Camas cross-country team gathered to protest their school for allowing a boy to switch from the boys’ team to the girls’ team in the middle of the season.
After the teams lined up to start the race and the whistle blew at Tuesday’s event, many of the Camas High girls walked off the field in protest.