Now that Brian Shortsleeve has taken a stance on the issue, every Republican gubernatorial candidate in Massachusetts has one more thing in common.

The former MBTA Chief Administrator came out against males competing in women’s sports this week, joining fellow GOP candidates in speaking out on the issue.

Shortsleeve expressed support for Pembroke mother Chrissy Nelson, who spoke at recent school committee meetings after her daughter was displaced by a transgender athlete from Chelsea High at a track meet last month.

“Girls deserve a safe and level playing field where the accolades of achievement are reserved for them, and the heartbreak of defeat can only come at the hands of another girl,” Shortsleeve posted on social media.

Nelson’s daughter finished ninth in the girls’ 55-meter dash at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Division 4 Northeast Invitational meet, missing the finals. Only the top eight runners advanced, including the transgender athlete from Chelsea.

Shortsleeve's post comes as both Mike Kennealy and Mike Minogue have already taken firm stances on the issue.

Kennealy posted on X last month (Twitter), "No boys in girls sports. Period. It’s just commonsense."

Also, Minogue posted on X: "Girls need fair and safe sports. As a father of two athletic daughters, we need common sense."

Massachusetts lets transgender-identifying male athletes compete in girls' sports because of a 2011 law called "An Act Relative to Gender Identity."

The law made gender identity a protected class in Bay State public schools. Due to this, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education ordered the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association to let students compete on teams that match their gender identity rather than their sex.

Since then, transgender-identifying athletes have had repeated success in Massachusetts high school girls’ sports.

They have won state championships in girls' track (Chloe Barnes) and girls' basketball in recent years. They have also won league all-star honors in girls' volleyball and girls' tennis. Meanwhile, they have set all-city meet records in track. Plus, a transgender girls' basketball player injured three girls in one half of a game in 2024, forcing the other team to forfeit.

Additionally, Massachusetts is the one state in the union that lets boys who identify as boys play girls' high school sports. That is due to the 1979 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision in Attorney General v. Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

The court ruled that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's policy of the time, which said "No boy may play on a girls' team," was unlawful. The court's opinion was that it violated the Equal Rights Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution.

Since that ruling, boys have won state championships in girls' field hockey, girls' volleyball, and girls' gymnastics. They have also won accolades in girls' swimming and excelled at girls' soccer.

A March 2025 University of New Hampshire poll found that 63 percent of Massachusetts residents don't think transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women's sports; just 26 percent disagree.