Lake Oswego coach says district ousted him after pushed change in transgender athlete law

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (KATU) — The head track & field coach at Lake Oswego High School said the district terminated his contract for writing letters to state officials advocating for change to laws pertaining to transgender athletes.

John Parks wrote two letters to Peter Weber, the Executive Director of the Oregon Student Activities Association, and state Sen. Rob Wagner before and after the state championships in May, respectively.

In the letters, Parks wrote that current state law, which protects athletes who wish to compete against the gender that aligns with their gender identity, compromises the integrity of girls' sports.

"The OSAA competition rules need to be aligned with what the rest of the world competes under," Parks wrote to Wagner, referring to hormone testing requirements enforced by the International Olympic Committee and other organizations. "My proposal to encourage transgender participation is to offer an open division that is so named so it doesn't identify or discriminate but offers an opportunity to participate."

READ MORE: Oregon School Activities Association affirms its policy to include transgender athletes

Parks told KATU he supports transgender athletes and does not want them to be excluded. He said he witnessed the crowd at the State Championships 'boo' a transgender athlete after they won a girls' event.

"I want them to be able to participate where they're not 'booed,' Parks said.

Mary Kay Larson, the Director of Communications at Lake Oswego School District, confirmed on Monday that Parks is no longer an employee of the district. She declined to explain why his employment, which started in Jan. 2023, ended. "We do not discuss personnel matters," she said.

Parks is now in the process of appealing his termination, and claimed the district's swift action stood against his ability to voice his opinion to state officials.

"I'm going to fight now because I got wronged," he told KATU. "I ... am fighting for girls, I'm fighting for female sports, and I'm fighting that it be fair for everybody."