Portland high school runner at center of national debate

Think Out Loud

Ada Gallagher was an artsy kid who joined the track team at Portland’s McDaniel High School at the urging of her friends. It turns out, not only was she was good at running, she also enjoyed it. Last year, Gallagher won first place in the 200-meter race at the Class 6A state track meet. Earlier this year, Fox News posted a video of her performance in a 400-meter race at a meet. The national attention came because Ada is a member of a very small but controversial population: a transgender female athlete. In February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” that aimed to ban transgender women from competing in girls and women’s sports. After Ada’s win in the 400, the Trump administration launched an investigation into Portland Public Schools and the Oregon School Activities Association for allegedly violating Title IX. Bill Oram, sports reporter at the Oregonian, and Ada Gallagher join us to talk about what it has been like to be at the center of national attention, and why she and her family are choosing to leave the country.