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Connecticut Transgender Shot Putter Takes Bronze At Girls’ State Championship Meet

By Tom Joyce | June 6, 2024, 16:09 EDT

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2024/06/06/connecticut-transgender-shot-putter-takes-bronze-at-girls-state-championship-meet/

Photo from Fort George G. Meade Public Affairs Office / Flickr

A transgender athlete had a top-three finish at a state championship girls’ track meet in Connecticut last week.

Rose McNaughton, a male and a junior at Old Saybrook High School, finished third in shotput (32 feet, 1.5 inches) at the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class S girls’ outdoor track and field state championship on Thursday, May 29, according to Athletic.net. 

The Connecticut Centinal was first to report this news; it was also first to report Naughton’s transgender status, on April 5, 2024.

Old Saybrook Public Schools issued a statement on its web site defending Naughton in response to the right-of-center Connecticut publication’s April 5 article.

Here is what the statement said, in part:

As you may know, the Connecticut State Department of Education recently updated its guidance related to transgender and gender-diverse students. This guidance reaffirms the obligation of Connecticut Public Schools to safeguard the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse students and to provide every student with equal access to all educational programs and activities, including sports teams. This guidance also confirms that all students have access to restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity or expression. Old Saybrook Public Schools’ policies and regulations are consistent with the procedures set forth by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and Connecticut state law. 

Contrary to what the article states, we have not received any complaints from student-athletes or their parents related to the participation in sports of students who are transgender and gender-diverse or the use of locker rooms by any student. Additionally, please be advised that if any student requests additional privacy in the locker room, regardless of their gender identity, we provide such student with an alternative such as a nearby single restroom, privacy partition or curtain, or separate changing schedule. We want all students to feel safe, comfortable, and supported at school and school-sponsored activities.

 

McNaughton isn’t the only transgender track athlete in Connecticut this year. Lizzy Bidwell, a junior at Conard High School (which is in West Hartford, Connecticut) won a CIAC Class LL state championship in the girls’ triple jump (38 feet, 8 inches) on Wednesday, May 29, as NewBostonPost previously reported. Bidwell also helped Conard win a team state championship in the spring 2023 season, as NewBostonPost mentioned in the report.

Similarly, 2020 Bloomfield High grad Terry Miller and 2020 Cromwell High grad Andraya Yearwood each won many Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference state titles. Miller won a combined 16 state titles in various events, including individual events, team relays, and all-states; Miller sometimes won multiple events in the same season, as NewBostonPost previously reported. Meanwhile, Yearwood won three state titles between individual and team events, as NewBostonPost previously reported.

A spokesman for Old Saybrook Public Schools could not be reached for comment on Tuesday or Wednesday.