A former high school track and field coach in Oregon says he was fired by Lake Oswego High School after he sent a letter to state officials concerning laws related to transgender athletes.
A former high school track and field coach in Oregon says he was fired by Lake Oswego High School after he sent a letter to state officials concerning laws related to transgender athletes.
According to KATU, John Parks wrote two letters to Peter Weber, the executive director of the Oregon Student Activities Association, as well as to state senator Rob Wagner before and after the state championships.
In the letters, Parks wrote that current state laws, which protect athletes who wish to compete against the gender that they identify with, compromises the integrity of girls' sports.
"The OSAA competition rules need to be aligned with what the rest of the world competes under," Parks wrote to Wagner, referring to hormone testing requirements enforced by the International Olympic Committee and other organizations. "My proposal to encourage transgender participation is to offer an open division that is so named so it doesn't identify or discriminate but offers an opportunity to participate.
Parks told KATU that he supports transgender athletes and does not want them to be excluded, noting that he witnessed a crowd at the state championships boo a transgender athlete who was competing in the girls' event.
"I want them to be able to participate where they're not 'booed,' Parks said.
Mary Kay Larson, director of communications at Lake Oswego School District, confirmed that Parks is no longer an employee with the district but said the school does not comment on personnel matters.
Parks is now in the process of appealing his termination.
"I'm going to fight now because I got wronged," he told KATU. "I ... am fighting for girls, I'm fighting for female sports, and I'm fighting that it be fair for everybody."
