Girls soccer team in New Hampshire forfeits game against team with trans player

The Bishop Brady High School girls' soccer team in Concord, New Hampshire, has joined the growing number of female athletes protesting the inclusion of biological males in female sports. 

On Friday, the team boycotted their scheduled match against Kearsarge Regional High School, which has a transgender-identifying biological male on their roster. Kearsarge is one of two schools in the state with a biological male on the girls' team, despite the state having already passed a law designed to prevent such a thing from taking place, according to Fox News.

The Kearsarge team includes Maelle Jacques, a nearly six-foot-tall biological male who identifies as female. Despite New Hampshire's law barring transgender-identifying individuals from competing in girls' sports, Jacques has been allowed to play due to a federal judge's preliminary injunction issued in September. This ruling has allowed Jacques to continue playing and using the girls’ locker room until a final decision is made.

Bishop Brady’s boycott follows a growing trend of female athletes refusing to compete against teams that include biological males. Similar protests have been seen across the country, particularly in women’s college volleyball. Schools such as Southern Utah, Boise State, the University of Wyoming, Utah State, and the University of Nevada have seen players refuse to compete against San Jose State, which has a biological male on its women’s volleyball team.

The issue of biological males competing in women’s sports has received more attention leading up to the election, and may be a pressing issue for voters who take to the ballot box on election day. Former President Donald Trump recently commented on the inclusion of biological males in women’s sports, suggesting at a Fox News town hall event last week that he would implement a full-on ban of the practice.