High School Coach Claims District Fired Him Over Advocacy for Transgender Athlete Policy Change

An Oregon high school track coach claimed the school district terminated his contract because he pushed for the state to change the laws around trans-identifying athletes.

John Parks, head track and field coach at Lake Oswego High School just south of Portland, wrote a pair of letters to the executive director of the Oregon Student Activities Association and a state senator.

Lake Oswego high school track & field coach was terminated after demanding fair competition for his female athletes.

He’s taken his team to the state championship 3 years in a row.

The problem is his stance was way too reasonable, so they ousted him.https://t.co/qYLfHwZ9Y1

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 18, 2024

In his letters, which were written before and after the state championships in May, Parks argued that Oregon law, which currently allows trans-identifying biological males to compete with female athletes, is harming girls’ sports.

Parks called for student sports in Oregon to follow the lead of other sports organizations like the International Olympic Committee that require hormone testing for trans-identifying athletes.

“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 wrote.

Parks said that part of his concern is for trans-identifying athletes themselves.

“I want them to be able to participate where they’re not booed,” Parks told KATU, adding that he saw the crowd boo a trans-identifying athlete who won a girls’ event at the state championships.

The Lake Oswego School District’s communications director said Parks is no longer employed at the district but did not give a reason, saying the district does not discuss personnel matters.

Parks is appealing the school district’s decision to terminate his contract.

“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.”

“When you come to championship events, these things involve scholarships, they involve things that they have an unfair advantage in at the highest level when it comes to physical things,” Parks said. “We’re not talking about political. This is not a political issue to me and never has been.”

A petition to reinstate Parks as coach has already gathered more than 100 signatures.

Riley Gaines, former college swimmer and women’s sports activist highlighted Parks’ situation in a social media post.

“He’s taken his team to the state championship 3 years in a row,” she posted on X. “The problem is his stance was way too reasonable, so they ousted him.”

Female athletes at high schools and colleges in several states have spoken out against competing against biological males, some arguing that they missed out on awards and scholarships after losing to their male competitors.

High school girls have also been injured playing with trans-identifying males. Last year in North Carolina, a female high school volleyball player suffered severe trauma to her head and neck after a trans-identifying male player spiked a volleyball that hit her head.