Transgender NCAA track and field athlete Sadie Schreiner posted a video on social media complaining about the lack of transfer opportunities for trans athletes at the university this year.
Schreiner, who has competed at Division III Rochester Institute of Technology, lamented the lack of options that have been presented to trans athletes looking to transfer this year, as 25 U.S. states have enacted laws to prevent trans inclusion in women’s sports.
“Among all the obstacles that transfers usually have, there is an extra layer of being trans, 50% of the country banned me from participating and that meant that I would not be able to attend any of those universities even if they contacted me with a complete walk,” she said Schreiner. However, current laws would not prevent Schreiner from “attending” those universities, only from competing on women’s sports teams.
“It also became clear that the states that did it, no matter how adamant the coaches were about having me on their teams, the university administrations usually prevented them from allowing me to participate.”
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Sadie Schreiner runs to qualify in the 400m race at the 2024 NCAA DIII Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on May 24, 2024, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Schreiner has been a controversial figure in women’s track and field this year after her appearance at the 2024 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May. There, the biological male athlete finished last in the 400 meters, but still took a place in the competition that could have gone to a biological female.
Earlier that month, Schreiner competed in the Liberty League championships and won the women’s 200 and 400 meters, breaking the 400 meter record in the process. Schreiner would have finished last by more than two seconds if the athlete had performed the same in the men’s competition.
Despite the severe backlash from the controversy, Schreiner is now seeking more opportunities to compete against female athletes and publicly expresses her frustration over the lack of opportunities. But Schreiner doesn’t just talk about the sports issue in relation to trans rights.
On Tuesday, Schreiner complained about the general social and political climate surrounding the views and rights of transgender people in the US. But Schreiner also insisted that the athlete will compete at the NCAA level in 2025.
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“Trans people are being actively attacked right now, and our rights are being stripped away, and those in power either support this or just allow it to happen,” Schreiner said. “But we’re not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m sure in January you’ll see me competing on the track again.”
Schreiner’s grudges were revealed on the final day of a year plagued by controversy over trans athletes in women’s sports, both in the United States and abroad.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to institute a complete ban on trans inclusion in women’s and girls’ sports during his next term with seemingly unanimous support from other Republicans on the issue. However, Democrats are divided on the issue. Far-left figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have continued to support trans inclusion, while more moderate figures like Seth Moulton have backed away from their support.
President Joe Biden’s Department of Education on Dec. 20 withdrew a proposed rule change that would have prohibited schools from preventing trans athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Sadie Schreiner puts a transgender flag in her hair before heading to the awards booth after finishing third in the final of the 200-meter dash at the 2024 NCAA DIII Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on March 25. May 2024, in Myrtle Beach. SOUTH CAROLINA. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“The Department recognizes that there are multiple pending lawsuits related to the application of Title IX in the context of gender identity, including lawsuits related to the application of Title IX to athletic eligibility criteria in a variety of factual contexts. In Light of the comments received and those several pending court cases, the Department has decided not to regulate this issue at this time,” the filing reads.
Several states have sued and enacted their own laws to address the issue after the Biden-Harris administration issued a sweeping rule clarifying that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on identity. gender, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.”
In August, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to deny the administration an emergency request to enforce that sweeping rule. The request would have biological men allowed in bathrooms, locker rooms and women’s bedrooms in 10 states where there are state and local rules to prevent it.
