Holly and Aislin Magalengo, photo courtesy of the family.
“There’s all these girls racing and all these parents watching and no one is saying anything.”
Aislin Magalengo’s frustration was evident in her voice when recalling the race in which she came in second place, 21 seconds behind Sean “Luce” Allen, a biological male from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, in a 5k cross country race from 2024.
“Nobody’s acknowledging how there’s a literal male racing against females, and it is very frustrating to see nobody standing up freely or even acknowledging what’s going on when it’s so clearly obvious that there’s a male in the race.”
Magalengo — a recent graduate of Quakertown Community High School in Bucks County — along with countless other female athletes, competed against Allen multiple times during the last school year.
Magalengo remembers the first time she encountered Allen in a race.
“I was a junior running spring track the first time it happened. I realized there was a male competing in my race, and I thought that maybe he missed his race or something. I did not think much about it. But then my senior year in the fall, the same male showed up to compete in a 5k cross country meet. And now I realize, he is in the girls’ heat intentionally.”
Neck and neck in the cross country race, Magalengo told Allen, “you are not a girl and should not be racing with us.”
“I kept thinking how grueling the course is and how hard I trained to get here.”
After losing the race to him, she saw the Plymouth Whitemarsh coach and was told that he would be talking with the athletic director at her school. Worried she was going to get in trouble at school, she called her mom, Holly, who was unable to attend the race due to starting a new job.
“She was crying when she called me,” recalls Holly. “I thought it was because she came in second, but then she said, ‘I’m in trouble.’ I’m sitting there as a mom and wondering what she said that she could be in trouble for. When she told me, I thought ‘why would you get in trouble for that?’”
In Holly’s mind, her daughter was not rude or disrespectful, she simply stated a fact. Still concerned, however, she contacted a friend who served on a nearby school board and asked for advice. The friend suggested she retain an attorney in case the situation escalated at her school.
The Magalengos’ retained Keith Altman, founder of K Altman Law, in anticipation of disciplinary actions at school. While the school did not impose any consequences for her statement, the athletic director never said that boys competing in girls’ races was wrong. Based on the school’s stance, Altman recommended filing a lawsuit against both schools for allowing a male athlete to compete in girls’ races.
Aislin, her teammates, and other girls across the region not only lost races to him, but were also subjected to sharing the girls’ bathroom with him at events.
In January 2025, Altman filed suit on the Magalengos’ behalf. Aislin and Holly said they pursued legal action because they believe it unfair to require girls to compete against boys and share private facilities with them.
“This did not just happen once,” said Aislin. “This had happened multiple times, and he wasn’t just competing against me. There were all the girls on my team too, and this was affecting all the other teams that he decided to race against.”
Aislin recollects a teammate who lost a spot at states because she crossed the finish line right behind Luce. “He ended up actually taking the spot that would have been hers if he wasn’t in the race.”
Her teammates were supportive of her stance and the suit, and she did not encounter any backlash at school. However, her love of running and competing diminished as her senior year came to an end. She talked with a few college coaches but ultimately decided that she needed a break from the sport she once loved.
“It really did play a big part of my decision,” said Aislin about competing in college. “There’s multiple different factors that go into it, but it definitely did have a little bit of a weight on me. What was such a positive thing to be into [running], became negative, not completely negative, but it definitely tinted my view on it.”
Her mom, Holly, continues to speak out about the issue and raise awareness about what is happening to girls across the state.
“It’s really against girls and women right now in Pennsylvania,” said Holly. “I think that’s part of the reason I am becoming even more vocal, and I’m trying to do what I can.”
Altman filed the lawsuit in federal court against Quakertown Community and Colonial School Districts and the Pennsylvania Athletic Association (PIAA), the governing body for high school sports. Judge Wendy Beetlestone dismissed the case with prejudice in September — prompting Altman to appeal the decision to the third circuit court.
“One of these cases is going to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Altman told Broad + Liberty, ready to take the case as far as he can if they lose the appeal. “This is a scientific issue. It’s not politics, it’s not about LGBTQ issues. It’s biology, plain and simple.”
Colonial School District — where Luce Allen attended — had no comment on the lawsuit. Its policy allows boys to compete in girls sports.
“Gender expansive or transgender students shall be permitted to participate in athletic programs/opportunities and physical education classes in a manner that is consistent with their authentic gender identity.”
Quakertown Community School District — where Magalengo attended — did not respond to a request for comment and does not have a specific policy related to boys playing in girls’ sports.
Despite the executive order issued by President Trump over a year ago, Pennsylvania school districts still allow boys to compete in girls’ sports, prompting Republican state Senator Judy Ward to sponsor the Save Women’s Sports Act. The bill easily passed the Republican-controlled state Senate 32 to 18, with unanimous Republican support and five Democrats crossing party lines, including Senators Lisa Boscola, Marty Flynn, James Malone, Nick Miller, and Christine Tartaglione.
It is not surprising that five Pennsylvania Democratic Senators voted affirmatively to keep boys out of girls’ sports when 79 percent of Americans believe that men should be barred from women’s sports, including 67 percent of Democrats.
The bill is now stalled in the state Democratic-majority House of Representatives, as it has not advanced the bill out of committee, thereby preventing a full vote.
Meanwhile Governor Josh Shapiro continues to remain silent or vague on the issue, and a newly formed conservative nonprofit, Voices of Americans, launched a campaign to call him out.
Founder Albert Eisenberg said, “Governor Shapiro is not just on the wrong side of the 80-20 issue (in polling) of separating biological boys and girls in sports and locker rooms — he actually labeled the majority of voters in Pennsylvania ‘extremist’ for supporting this policy.” (Disclosure: Eisenberg is also a co-founder of Broad + Liberty.)
The nonprofit is “inviting Shapiro to be normal” and to support the commonsense position that boys should not be allowed to compete in girls’ sports. The campaign includes billboards in Scranton and Harrisburg highlighting Shapiro’s stance.
It remains to be seen whether Governor Shapiro will reverse course and publicly support the Pennsylvania Save Women’s Sports Act. If he did, the state House of Representatives would likely move it out of committee and advance it to the legislature for a full vote where it would have a probable chance of passing.
Meanwhile, countless girls across the Commonwealth are confronted with the difficult choice of whether to compete in sports against male athletes.
Aislin put it this way: “Training requires daily hard work, healthy habits, and mental toughness. When I compete, I compete to win.”
Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at [email protected].
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