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EXCLUSIVE: A group of teen girls are suing the state of Oregon over its laws that allow trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
Two of the girls said they made the decision to file the lawsuit after witnessing the viral feud between Riley Gaines and Simone Biles in June.
Maddie Eischen and Sophia Carpenter first entered the national battle when they refused to compete against a trans athlete at the Chehalem Classic back on April 18. They told Fox News Digital that Gaines reached out to them shortly after their forfeit and encouraged them to consider filing a lawsuit against the state.
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Oregon girls’ track and field athlete Maddie Eischen. (Courtesy of Maddie Eischen)
Then, after seeing the fallout of Gaines’ online clash with Biles, Eischen and Carpenter were convinced to file suit.
“I think especially when Riley Gaines and Simone Biles, and that whole thing happened and kind of seeing how that played out and how the public responded, I think that was encouraging to see how many people are on the side of protecting women’s sports,” Carpenter said.
Eischen recalls the public reaction she saw to both Biles and Gaines when the war of words started between the two women. Eischen especially recalls seeing the comments on Biles’ recent Instagram posts that night.
“All of the comments on Simone’s post were very negative to her, I saw people that commented on it, and I liked it. But there was a lot of shock that she had even said that, and disappointment,” Eischen said.
The feud started when Biles took issue with Gaines, calling out a Minnesota high school whose softball team won a state championship Friday with a transgender pitcher. Gaines noted that comments on X were turned off on the Minnesota State High School League’s post with a photo of the team on social media.
Biles responded, calling Gaines “truly sick,” then later sent a second post on X telling Gaines to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”
Soon after, millions of social media users across the world were chiming in.
Carpenter agreed she saw people in her social circles, who didn’t often discuss the topic of trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports, suddenly getting in on the conversation.
“Your average American … I think a lot of people don’t pay as much attention to this issue, and I think that with that with the whole Simone Biles and Riley Gaines, with all that fallout, that definitely brought some more attention,” Carpenter said. “It kept it in the news cycle, it kept people looking and saying ‘hey, there’s this issue in girls’ sports that’s happening a lot more than people think it is.'”
Oregon girls’ track and field athlete Sophia Carpenter. (Courtesy of Sophia Carpenter)
TRACKING THE TRANS ATHLETE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS CONTROVERSIES SHAKING THE NATION OVER THE LAST YEAR
Biles later released an apology for her comments about Gaines, writing “It didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley.” Days later, Biles deleted her X account completely, but the impact of the exchange left its mark, especially on Carpenter and Eischen.
“It was almost backstabbing in a way,” Carpenter said.
Eischen added, “I definitely don’t look up to her in the same way that I did.”
Above all else, the feud helped cement the teens’ decision to launch their lawsuit against the state. The lawsuit is led by the legal advocacy group the America First Policy Institute.
“America First Policy Institute is proud to stand with brave young women in Oregon and to file this lawsuit to hold state officials accountable for violating their sex-based rights under Title IX,” America First Policy Institute Executive General Counsel Jessica Hart Steinmann said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
“Female athletes deserve fairness, safety, and equal opportunity—not a system that sacrifices their rights in favor of radical ideology. This case is about restoring the original promise of Title IX and sending a clear message: the law still protects women.”
In court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, the plaintiffs outline the experiences of having to navigate a girls’ sports season while dealing with biological male competitors, with an emphasis on their April forfeit at the Chehalem Classic.
“For [Carpenter] the psychological and emotional weight of that moment became overwhelming—she felt helpless, demoralized, and betrayed by the institutions and adults charged with protecting her equal opportunity for fair play. ultimately, she realized that she was unable to participate in the high jump that day and withdrew from the event,” the lawsuit alleges.
Both Carpenter and Eischen previously told Fox News Digital the experience was “traumatic.”
“My experience at the Chehalem track meet and scratching myself from the meet was traumatic, something I never imagined ever having to do,” Eischen said.
Carpenter added, “It was emotionally traumatic trying to know what I should do and how I should respond to competing with [the trans athlete].”
Carpenter said she found herself so overwhelmed with emotion from the experience, that she cried on the ride home after the meet. Now, despite being faced with “fear” of potential retaliation for filing a lawsuit, the two girls are officially in it and charging ahead with a legal battle that could garner plenty of national attention.
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Eischen will be fighting this legal battle as she is set to begin her collegiate athletic career as a woman’s basketball player at Oregon Tech starting this fall.
Meanwhile, Carpenter will be returning to finish her high school sports career at Newberg High School later this year. Her high school is listed as one of the defendants in the lawsuit.
“I will stand by it, even when the backlash comes,” Carpenter said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Oregon Department of Education and Newberg High School for comment.
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