A male athlete took first place in a high school high jump competition for girls last week, just a few days after the Department of Education launched a federal investigation into the school district.
Zachary Rose, who now goes by “Lia” (or sometimes “Liaa”), is a student from Ida B. Wells high school in Portland, Oregon. Last Wednesday, Rose won the girls’ varsity high jump at the Portland Interscholastic League Varsity Relays. Rose beat the second-place finishers by two inches with a height of 4 feet and 8 inches, a personal record. The second-place height was achieved by three different girls, two of whom were from Rose’s high school.
What makes the scenario more appalling is the fact that Rose, while competing against boys in the junior varsity category in 2023, finished in last place in a competition of 11 boys.
Rose’s jump in the boys’ competition was 4 feet and 6 inches; that same score would have won the girls’ competition last week had Rose not competed. It is also interesting to point out that the shortest jump in the boys’ JV competition equates to the highest jump in the girls’ varsity competition, showcasing the stark advantage that the male has against females.
Rose appeared to have begun competing in the girls’ category in 2024, when he returned to the same competition he took part in during the 2023 season. In more recent instances, however, Rose competed in the girls’ category.
A spokesperson from Portland Public Schools was contacted by the New York Post but would not confirm nor deny if Lia and Zachary were indeed the same person and reportedly cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act “to protect student privacy.”
‘We will not allow the Portland Public Schools District … to trample on the antidiscrimination protections.’
The Portland Public Schools district was notified by the Department of Education about a federal investigation over possible Title IX violations about a week prior to the recent high jump event.
The federal department sent a letter to Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong regarding an investigation through the Office for Civil Rights about a male high school student who was allowed to compete in a girls’ track and field competition and use the female locker room while females were changing. Both of these possible infractions represent the precise elements of President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep males out of women’s sports.
“We will not allow the Portland Public Schools District or any other educational entity that receives federal funds to trample on the antidiscrimination protections that women and girls are guaranteed under law,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a press release.
The event that sparked the investigation occurred on March 19, when a male athlete who identified as a female won the girls’ 400-meter varsity race and finished more than seven seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
The athlete is named Aayden “Ada” Gallagher, an 11th-grade sprinter from McDaniel High School in Portland. Gallagher also won the girls’ 200-meter race. This was the second straight year he won both girls’ categories at the regional level. Gallagher also won the girls’ 200-meter sprint at the Oregon state finals in 2024.
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Fearless, Sprinting, Track and field, High jump, Girls’ sports, Women’s sports, Transgenderism, Sports
