As Guy Benson quipped on Twitter, oh look -- that thing that never happens has happened again. In one sense, though, this story from Portland, Oregon qualifies as a success story. What else can one call an effort by which a last-place finisher in track meets at the junior varsity level goes on to dominate at the varsity level?

Of course, that's not difficult to achieve when a biological male switches to compete against high-school girls:

Lia Rose, who reportedly used to compete as Zachary, won the high jump at the Portland Interscholastic League Varsity Relays with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches, beating the second-place finisher by two inches.

According to athletic.net, while competing against JV boys May 3, 2023, Zachary Rose finished 11th out of 11 competitors with a jump of 4 feet, 6 inches. ...

In 2024, Lia mostly competed against JV boys, with a top finish of second place and a personal record of 5 feet even.

And that's not the first time this season that a biological male has beaten female athletes in Portland. Fox News also notes that Ada Gallagher dominated girls in two races last month:

Lia’s victory comes roughly two weeks after Ada Gallagher, a trans track athlete in the Portland area, blew out the competition.

Gallagher, a state champion last year, finished at 57.62 in the 400 meters, with Franklin High School’s Kinnaly Souphanthong coming in second at 1:05.72. Gallagher’s teammate, Quinnan Schaefer, was behind Souphanthong at 1:07.13. 

In the 200-meter race, Gallagher finished in first place at 25.76, followed by teammate Addyson Skyles at 27.31.

Oregon likely has a policy of allowing "trans" athletes to compete in the competition of their choice. One has to notice that the choice always seems to be having males compete against females rather than girls entering competitions for boys. And it's no small wonder, either, given the obvious advantages males have in competing against females. If there are any biological females entering male competitions, we don't read much about it -- because they can't compete fairly against them. 

Andy Ngo reported on Thursday that the Department of Education is opening an investigation into Oregon's compliance with Title IX after hearing about Rose and Gallagher:

Oregon journalist @davidmedinapdx recorded the moment a male Portland @PPSConnect student was allowed to compete and win first in the Women's Varsity High Jump on April 2.

Zachary Rose, now "Lia," a student at Ida B. Wells High, is the latest male to win first in girls' sports… https://t.co/97qyCFJkBb

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) April 4, 2025

Linda McMahon will likely jump all over this, as it plays directly into Donald Trump's messaging on protecting female spaces. Trump already followed through on his promise to punish Maine for its insistence on allowing males to compete in female competitions and to access female-only spaces. Both Trump and McMahon will want another opportunity to flex their muscles through federal dollars going to such jurisdictions, especially in deep-blue Oregon, to force Democrats to either cave or to defend the indefensible. This is yet another 80/20 issue among American voters in which the Democrats are desperately clinging to the 20% position, which makes this an irresistible opportunity for Trump to keep up the pressure.

We have written volumes on these cases, and thankfully now we are seeing action to address the ridiculous policies that allow this nonsense. We can thank the brave opposition from female athletes, led by Riley Gaines, for this pushback against the unreality of the Left. But what we should be discussing is why boys and young men opt to make these choices in the first place. What makes males so desperate to discard their biological reality to encroach on girls and women for validation?

It's difficult to ignore the decades of cultural hostility toward males and masculinity in analyzing this impulse. The dominant culture and its political, literary, and entertainment components have spent most of my life denigrating masculinity as either toxic or unnecessary. Boys who exhibit masculine traits are either coached to suppress them or in some cases medicated out of them. Men get marginalized unless they join the culture-wide struggle session that requires them to renounce their masculinity. Anthony Mackie's remarks on "the death of the American male" recognized that generations-long assault on masculinity.

If America's dominant culture does not value males and masculinity, then should it surprise us when males opt to pretend to be females? Even at the expense of females and the spaces set aside for them in athletics, not to mention literal spaces such as locker rooms and bathrooms? Female-ness becomes aspirational for those who are taught that their natural identities are worthless. And to the extent that the traditional masculine virtues such as chivalry has been rejected, why would it surprise us when boys and men choose to victimize real girls and women in their efforts to achieve cultural validation?

Putting an end to these encroachments is a necessary first step. However, the real challenge is to effect cultural change to restore masculinity to a proper and heathy level of respect, with role models that boys can use to fully embrace their natural identities. Until we offer that kind of cultural validation, we will continue to lose boys -- and damage girls.