Charlie Garrett and Sierra Retzlaff did something simple and extraordinary last month. When the starting gun fired at their cross country meet, they walked off the course rather than compete against a biological male. That quiet act of defiance has sparked a wider revolt.
Rep. John Ley
The two Skyview High School runners refused to accept the fiction that sex is irrelevant in girls’ sports. Their stand has already encouraged other girls — at Battle Ground High School and at Camas High School, where the same athlete began the season competing as a male — to decline races against him. Courage, it turns out, spreads.
Yet the story does not end with a principled walk-off. Clark County Today has reported that this same individual was allowed into a hotel room occupied by three female teammates at the Nike Hole in the Wall XC Invitational. There, the athlete and two girls partially undressed to underwear and sports bras and shared an “ice bath.”
At least one of the girls felt uncomfortable enough to complain and later left the team. On the bus ride to the meet, according to family members, the athlete sat with a girl, rubbed her leg, pulled her onto his lap, and remarked that she “could make me a lesbian.”
Where were the coaches? Where were the athletic directors and school administrators whose job is to protect the girls in their charge? If a biological male on the boys’ team had behaved this way, parents believe he would have been removed and sent home. Instead, the institutional response appears focused on shielding the male athlete while concerned parents are treated as the problem.
Joel and Peggy Retzlaff and Emily Sadlowski have stood firmly with Charlie and Sierra. For the crime of showing up with a sign supporting his daughter, Joel was ordered to leave the competition. He chose to make a scene upon his forced exit, to call attention to the issue. He was later banned from Camas school property.
The Class 4A District Championship was then moved from Lewisville Park to Camas High School grounds, supposedly for “safety” reasons — despite no reported threats against any athletes. The relocation conveniently keeps Joel from attending his daughter’s race. That is not neutral administration; it is punishment of a parent for defending his child.
Parents have every right to be alarmed. When a biological male is permitted to enter girls’ private spaces, share intimate settings, and engage in physical contact that would be unacceptable from any other male teammate, the message is clear: the girls’ safety and fairness come second.
Washington voters will decide Initiative 638 on November 3. The measure would prohibit biologically male students from competing in certain female-only school sports and require medical verification of biological sex. Charlie, Sierra, and the parents standing with them are supporting the initiative and counting on that protection.
Concerned citizens can show their support at a “Camas Courage” rally on Wednesday, October 21, at 2 p.m. at 2600 NW Lake Road in Camas. There will be many speakers supporting the protection of girls in girls sports. The district meet will take place at the same location, with the boys’ race beginning around 2:30 p.m. and the girls’ race about 3 p.m.
Two teenage girls decided that fairness and dignity matter more than going along to get along. Their example is already changing the behavior of other athletes. That is how cultural shifts begin — one act of courage at a time.
Show up. Stand with them. “Courage is contagious,” said Riley Gaines. Charlie and Sierra proved that’s right!
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