Transgender girl joins boys' track and field team in Virginia

Eliza Munshi before high school track meet Falls Church Virginia March 2025

Allison Robbert for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Eliza Munshi puts on her shoes ahead of her event at a track meet in Falls Church, Virginia, on March 19, 2025.

Eliza Munshi was forced to do so due to new anti-trans regulations in the state.

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A transgender girl in Virginia has joined the boys’ track and field team at her high school after being barred from girls’ sports.

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Eliza Munshi is a senior at Falls Church High School, in the northern part of the state, near Washington, D.C. She tried out for the girls’ track and field team in February, The Washington Post reports.

But after Donald Trump signed an executive order that month denying federal funds to any school that allows trans girls and women to compete under their gender identity, the Virginia High School League, which regulates high school sports in the state, announced it would ban trans girls from girls’ sports.

So Eliza joined the boys’ track and field team, “her last chance to join her friends and participate before she graduates in June,” the Post reports.

Eliza has known she is a girl since a very early age. She preferred typical girls’ clothing and would point to female characters in storybooks, saying, “That’s me.” Her parents, Ali and Shyam Munshi, were supportive. She changed her name and pronouns before going into fifth grade, and her parents informed teachers, friends, and relatives. At the time, trans people weren’t under the political attacks they are today, and the Munshis found most of their circle to be happy for Eliza. They sought medical advice and went to support groups. Eventually, Eliza began receiving gender-affirming care.

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Shyam Munshi is in the military, so the family has moved around a great deal. They found Alabama and Florida to be less than welcoming to trans people, so they shared information about Eliza with only a select few. After Florida banned gender-affirming care for minors in 2023, the Munshis returned to Virginia. (The Florida law has been struck down in court, but the state is appealing.)

Since track and field meets at Eliza’s high school are coed, it was easier for her to make the transition from the girls’ to the boys’ team than it would have been in other sports. At the meet covered by the Post, she competed in the discus throw. Her performance provides evidence against the argument that trans girls are more like boys and shouldn’t compete with girls. Her throws were 41 feet, 2 inches, and 41 feet, 4 inches. “The average throw in the boys’ competition that day was about 74 and a half feet,” the Post reports.