MP attacks 8 year old trans girl for competing in cross country race

Western Australia MP Peter Abetz said a trans girl should not have been allowed to compete in a girl’s cross country event.

The 8 year old transgender girl ran in competition at her primary school in Perth, alongside other girls her age. She placed fifth, and qualified for the local inter-schools event.

Christian pastor and Liberal Party politician Peter Abetz said it was unfair for a trans girl to compete in a girls event.

Mr Abetz told Perth Now: “I think what the school could have done is gone to the parents and say, ‘We appreciate that you have the view that your son identifies as a girl, but from a practical perspective this is going to create a lot of difficulties at the school and if he doesn’t want to run the cross country as a boy he can stay on the sidelines’.”

He asked “Is it fair that a child who is clearly biologically a boy and is by nature more muscular than girls runs in the race?

“What would have happened if he came first in the race? What would that have created? If I was a girl I would have said that was unfair.

“The thing is, the child is biologically a boy. That’s what he is. It’s a scientific fact.”

Before puberty, boys and girls have been shown to be roughly equal in strength and sporting ability.

A parent of another child at the school said they were concerned about the impact on their child. They said: “Firstly, I am concerned for the child involved. I think this is a dangerous path to go down given this is a young age to affirm your sexuality.

“And there are wider implications. I know my child, who goes to that school, feels awkward about it.

“If the child wants to identify fully as a girl you are looking at them using girls’ change rooms and toilets – and there are issues with that.”

The school’s principal said they were committed to respecting the pupil’s gender in all respects.

In a letter to parents, they explained: “The student was enrolled in our school last year and may be familiar to your children as a boy, but will now be recognised as a girl,”

“In accordance with WA’s discrimination laws an individual cannot be discriminated against on the ground of transgender identity in sports, meaning that individuals can compete according to their identified gender.”

• Dec 31 2024

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