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I’m a high school athlete – Proposition 1 will destroy girls’ sports
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I’m a high school athlete – Proposition 1 will destroy girls’ sports

Boys and girls are not biologically the same.

Why schools – and Democratic lawmakers in Albany – trick girls like me into thinking they are?

Recently, on a beautiful fall afternoon, I found myself at the USTA Tennis Center in Queens.

A few weeks earlier, the courts hosted the best tennis players in the world.

Here I was representing my elite private high school as a member of the girls’ varsity tennis team.

I was nervous after hitting a few balls into the net.

But my anxiety worsened when I saw who was on the other team: a boy.

His voice was deep.

He had broad shoulders.

He was clearly stronger, with a larger build than the rest of us.

He wasn’t even trying to pretend he was a girl.

Thanks to former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines – and to her revelation of injustice trans athletes in women’s sports – I knew it was unfair competition.

Trans athletes pose a physical danger to women.

Many girls have been injured playing sports against biological boys.

In a case that made headlines in 2022, North Carolina volleyball player Payton McNabb was left unconscious when a biologically male opponent threw a ball at her head.

Biological boys also steal medals from deserving girls who dedicate their lives to their sport.

Just last week, the United Nations released a report showing that girls lost 900 medals to biological males.

The boy I witnessed at the Tennis Center was one of the best players on his school team.

I fumed while watching my teammate play against him in a singles match.

Even worse, I saw his coaches cheering him on.

I felt for the girl who was kicked off the team because of him.

He was allowed to play against girls because of rules established by the New York State Association of Independent Schools, allowing biological boys to identify as girls and play on a girls’ team.

These are the rules that every NYSAIS-accredited private school – including Dalton, Brearley and many others – must follow.

And now voters are set to decide whether similar rules should apply across New York state.

If approved Tuesday, Proposal 1 amend the New York Constitution let boys play on girls’ teams.

I have no doubt that this would mean the end of women’s sport.

Imagine: a boy could say he is a girl to play volleyball in the fall.

Then, if he wants to play baseball in the spring, he could just announce that he’s going to be a boy again.

There is nothing stopping this madness from happening.

Proposition 1 would also allow men to intrude into spaces reserved for women.

I could undress in a locker room after a tennis match, and nothing would stop a boy pretending to be a girl from looking at me.

It’s terrifying, and it should terrify the parents of every girl in New York State.

Supporters say Prop 1, which they call the “Equal Rights Amendment,” keeps abortions legal — but New York already has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country.

Sport plays a big part in my life.

Playing keeps me healthy, is social and fun. It also improves my mental health.

Prop 1 will cause girls like me to give up on sports, leading to more anxiety and depression.

State legislators are supposed to keep us safe.

Our schools are supposed to teach us right and wrong.

In the upside-down world we live in, none of these things happen.

Unfortunately, I have to write this anonymously.

As I saw with others who speakthere would be a backlash if I simply spoke my opinion.

Generations of women before me have fought for rights that are gradually being taken away.

I’m not old enough to vote yet, but I implore my fellow New Yorkers to stop this madness and vote no on proposition 1.

Anonymous is a student-athlete at a private high school in New York City.

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