A 17-year-old transgender athlete has spoken out with a strong and heartfelt message for her critics after she faced boos from the crowd following her second straight win at a state championship.
Verónica Garcia secured first place in the class 2A 400-meter sprint during the track and field championships held at Mount Tahoma High School, located in Tacoma, Washington. The event took place on Saturday (May 31), just under an hour from Seattle.
Based on reports from the Seattle Times, the man was seated near the starting area and could be heard repeatedly yelling phrases like ‘girls race’ and ‘let’s go girls’, which appeared to be meant to provoke.
Despite the tense atmosphere, Verónica ran a strong race and finished a full second ahead of the runner-up, Lauren Matthew, a junior from West Valley. After the event, Lauren was seen holding up a sign that read: “Washington State Track and Field Real Girls 2A 400m Champion.”
“I’ll be honest, I kind of expect it.” she said during the interview.
“But it maybe didn’t have their intended effect. It made me angry, but not angry as in, I wanted to give up, but angry as in, I’m going to push.”
She followed up with another comment, saying: “I’m really proud of myself. I did what I came to do, and that’s good enough for me.”
“One of the things that Martin Luther King always pointed out is that you have to do what’s right. Even if there comes risk, you still have to do what’s right.”
“I know I’m gonna push myself to keep going, but I don’t want a man pushing me to have to go.”, she added, referring to Garcia with the wrong gender identity.
