Hillhouse High school track star Jada Boyd is a three-time state champion winning runner. At 4’11 this young woman is a force to be reckoned with. Boyd ran the 400 meter run in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class M Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Willowbrook Park in New Britain. Jada came in a very close second to Terry Miller of Bulkeley High school, a transgender girl (biological boy) who competed in the boy’s indoor team during the winter but is currently running on the girls outdoor team.

Miller dominated the championship, also winning the girls’ 100 and 200 meter run. After the race ended Jada Boyd told Gametime CT she wasn’t happy about the race itself: “I don’t think it’s fair. I wasn’t comfortable at all. It mentally kind of throws me off, but I had to fight through it.”

Jada’s coach, Gary Moore, sympathized with her feelings. He told Gametime CT she ran her personal-best time in the event at 57.49. Coach Moore said that was far better than the first time she competed against Miller, when Moore told Gametime CT the girls on his team “were almost distraught.”

Moore believes Terry Miller should be able to compete but he also admits, “You know, I don’t think it’s fair to the girls.”

Jarmaine V. Lee is Jada’s cousin and a father of male student athlete. Jarmaine is speaking out on behalf of the girls on the track team who he believes are at an unfair advantage running against biological males. Lee is demanding the CIAC to change their rules. The CIAC handbook states,

“The school district shall determine a student’s eligibility to participate in a CIAC gender specific sports team based on the gender identification of that student in current school records and daily life activities in the school and community at the time that sports eligibility is determined for a particular season.”

To express his concerns Jarmaine shared a live video via Facebook from the Championship track meet. Warning: His language is, at times, explicit. But his passionate plea comes from the heart of a family member that wants an equal playing field for his cousin and all the hardworking young athletes.

 

This is a growing issue that needs structure and care in order to build our youth and not cause false hopes and broken dreams to plague their futures! Please sign and share our petition to support an even playing field for all of our student athletes!#SignShareSupporthttps://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/271/784/676/

Posted by Jarmaine V. Lee on Tuesday, May 29, 2018

 

In addition to sharing his message through video Jarmaine created a petition calling for a policy change.

Jada Boyd and her cousin Joel Lee.

The petition states:

 

“The Connecticut CIAC indoor/outdoor track and field competitions for female athletes has been unfairly dominated by transgender student athletes who identify as female. It is because of these student’s physical stature and build that an unfair advantage has caused them to over-qualify in female competition and remove young ladies who have worked diligently in their respective areas to be among the best in their event. They are breaking state records that were set by female runners and should be broken by female runners. We demand that if students are allowed to compete in events, they should be mandated to compete against students who’s gender is the same as those within the competition at hand: ie. male vs. male, female vs. female, transgender identified as female vs. transgender identified as female, and transgender identified as male vs. transgender identified as male. This allows our student athletes to stay on an even playing field and it promotes healthy competition. We also demand that the times be readjusted to reflect the proper placement of those qualifying individuals in their respective heats and that all records properly reflect the accurate results.”

Another Connecticut parent, Bianca Stanescu is sharing a similar petition calling for the CIAC to change it’s policy. Her daughter Selina Soule finished in sixth place in the 100-meter dash with Terry Miller finishing first and another transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood taking second place. Bianca interviewed with Fox News reporters and shared her concerns.

FIC is in contact with Jarmaine Lee and we’ll keep our supporters connected to his fight for a CIAC policy change.