Future WWCC athlete explains why she joined effort to ban transgender girls from WIAA competition

Prosser’s Soleil Hoefer decided she needed to speak out to protect female athletes after one of her teammates ran against a transgender athlete at an invitational and the 2A state track meet last season.

That led the senior soccer standout who’s helped the Mustangs’ 4x100 relay team win six races this season to reach out to The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group. The ADF’s nearly 5,000 attorneys have taken up a variety of cases on controversial issues, fighting for pro-life causes, freedom of religion and against same-sex marriage with a more recent focus on defending the right of business owners to decline service to same-sex couples on religious grounds.

A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education against the state of Washington and the WIAA in early April on behalf of Hoefer and Kora Lengerich, a Gonzaga Prep freshman, seeks to ban transgender girls from competing in Washington state high school events, citing federal Title IX protections. The WIAA’s rules allow athletes to compete in the sport corresponding to their chosen gender, with no restrictions.

“This complaint isn’t really getting into the weeds of exactly what should be put in place but it’s just really addressing the need to have protected categories to ensure that Title IX guarantees of girls having equal opportunity to experience victories in their sport are in place across the country as federal law requires,” lawyer Suzanne Beecher said during a phone interview that included Hoefer and her mother, Jessica, on April 23. “We’re hopeful that the Department of Education will investigate Washington.”

The Trump administration announced on April 30 it would begin an investigation into the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, claiming reports that the OSPI imposed requirements that "potentially violate federal law", including Title IX.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal immediately responded with a statement in support of Washington's state laws, calling the investigation "an alarming attempt to infringe on the rights of our transgender and gender-expansive students."

Hoefer said the issue first came to her attention last year, when teammate Malli Ruud ran the 400-meter race at the Van Kuren Invitational and finished third behind East Valley of Spokane's Veronica Garcia, a transgender athlete. According to Hoefer, coaches told the Mustangs Garcia would be considered a JV athlete and not allowed to compete at the state level.

Instead, Garcia raced against Ruud in a preliminary heat at the 2A state meet, then went on to became the first known transgender athlete to win a state title, clocking a 55.59 while boos rained down from the crowd in Tacoma. Hoefer said her teammate felt upset and called it “really disheartening” for girls to know they may be forced to run against transgender athletes in high school sports.

Garcia said she was "appalled" by the complaint in a statement to The Spokesman-Review (Spokane) last month.

“The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and the Washington Office of Public Instruction (OSPI) have implemented successful guidelines that have never been a problem, and ensure we have equal opportunities. Why further target 1% of the population?” she said.

Hoefer switched her focus from primarily shorter races to the 400 this spring, although she said coaches put her in the 200 at some early meets to help the Mustangs earn more points. She placed second in the 400 at a league meet in Ephrata earlier this month with a personal-best of 1:02.04, which puts her outside the top 25 girls times in 2A and nearly seven seconds behind Garcia’s all-classification best time of 55.23.

It's possible Hoefer could run against Garcia in Prosser at the May 23 CWAC/GSL Regional. Hoefer said she would not refuse to compete like some other athletes across the country have chosen to do against transgender competitors, since she doesn’t believe that decision should be up to her.

“It should have been dealt with by adults, coaches, WIAA officials,” Hoefer said. “It shouldn't have to come down to the athlete because ultimately Washington should be able to protect their women and girls and not put them in a predicament where they’re running a sport that’s unfair.”

Prosser track and field coach Corey Ingvalson declined to comment for this story, citing guidance from his superintendent.

Hoefer, who is headed to Walla Walla Community College to play soccer in the fall, said she faced a transgender athlete for the first time last year at a college soccer showcase tournament. Although the NCAA limited participation in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth in February to align with an executive order from the Trump administration, the NWAC allows transgender women to compete if they’ve completed one calendar year of documented testosterone-suppression treatment, according to the conference’s codebook.

The WIAA changed two proposed amendments designed to prohibit transgender girls from competing against cis girls to advisory votes after WIAA lawyers determined they would violate state law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity. An amendment to limit participation in girls sports to biological females fell short of the required 60% threshold by a single vote.

After Virginia’s decision this week to follow several other states in accordance with the Trump administration’s executive order, 30 states have banned the participation of transgender girls in boys’ high school sports.

The Tumwater School District voted to ban transgender girls from boys’ sports following a controversy in February, but Washington remains among the states committed to fighting against the executive order. Maine won a settlement earlier this month to end the Trump administration’s threat to freeze federal funds.

Hoefer said she plans to continue advocating for fairness on an issue she believes could cause the end of women’s sports, and she believes many others feel the same way but are afraid to speak out.

Earlier this year, Reykdal said there are five to 10 student-athletes out of 250,000 in Washington state who are transgender, or .004%.