A Maine high school track and cross country coach published an op-ed Thursday in the Bangor Daily News defending the participation of biological males in girls’ sports.

The author of the op-ed, entitled “There is no place for hatred in running,” is Isaac Vaccaro, a math teacher and head coach of cross country, indoor track and outdoor track at George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill.

Vaccaro, who has coached high school cross country and track for five years, wrote that he has “seen adults publicly humiliate and harass trans athletes at meets. I have seen adults cyberbully trans athletes, facilitated by the posts of news outlets and state representatives.”

“Student athletes do not deserve to be treated this way,” Vaccaro wrote, adding that “It’s not all about winning, right?”

“In cross country, the top 30 individuals at the regional meet qualify for the state meet,” Vaccaro wrote. “The girl in 31st place does not blame the 30 girls ahead of her for running too fast; she takes personal accountability for not reaching the qualifying mark.”

Vaccaro argued that the real issues facing girls sports in Maine is plummeting participation, eating disorders and assaults by male coaching staff.

“If we care about the integrity of girls sports, these are the problems to address, not attacking trans girls,” he wrote.

“Trans girls are girls and deserve to compete with girls,” Vaccaro claimed. “They do not, in my experience, threaten cis women athletes.”

“If you want to support girls’ high school sports in Maine, attend competitions, volunteer to coach your local program, promote solutions for the real issues threatening girls sports, and most importantly, treat athletes with kindness and respect,” he wrote.

Vaccaro’s view diverge from those of Greely High School’s girls’ track coach Allen Cornwall, who boycotted a state meet because he objected to a biological male competing there.

In recent weeks, Maine has attracted national attention for the Maine Principals’ Association’s policy of forcing female athletes to compete against biological male transgender athletes in sports.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has found Maine to be in violation of Title IX protections of girls in school sports, after launching an investigation late last month into the Maine Department of Education’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender athletes from playing on girls’ teams.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills has asserted and doubled-down on her position that banning biological males who identify as females from girls’ sports would violate the Maine Human Rights Act.

In October 2024, the Maine Wire reported on a biological male runner who identifies as female and took first place over a female athlete in the five-kilometer cross country run at Western Maine Conference Championship. The transgender athlete’s performance in that race would have placed him 43rd among the male runners.

Last year, The Maine Wire covered the same runner’s fifth-place ranking in the 5k at the Maine XC Festival of Champions. In the same race in 2022, prior to his transition, he competed with the boys and ranked 206th.