Monday, March 09, 2015

Trans Athletes

A tale of two cities, one in Maine, and one in Montana…

ESPN’s Outside the Lines has the story of two transgender high school athletes and how they are treated;
…More than 30 states and the District of Columbia have a policy in place (some more restrictive than others) that addresses transgender student-athlete participation on the high school level. Kelly Naqi spent some time with two transgender athletes in very different circumstances.

“I knew if I wanted to comfortably play on a team, I would have to come out to everyone, and that was a little nerve wracking. It’s putting myself out there and saying, ‘please accept me.’” – _____* 14-year-old swimmer

“To me, it’s our simple human rights. I should not have to try to fight my way to be able to play on a certain kind of team, just because I’m a little different.” – _____* 15-year-old multi-sport athlete


(I the video doesn't show up click here to see the webpage.)

Notice how everything was all right for the Montana student until the conservative Montana Family Foundation step in with their bathroom fixations.


*I removed their names because of their ages so they would show up on a web search.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for posting this on your blog. It was a really good piece and one that represented everyone involved fairly. Trust me, I disagree with the Montana Family Foundation on this 100%.

    I will say two things -

    1.) Both of these young people are very articulate and good representatives of our community. Very proud of them and their fortitude to succeed.

    2.) Montana and the other states will have to reverse their sports policies within the next 5 years. There are greater sports bodies, which are changing with the times and are accepting the true medical science of being trans. Particularly for MTFs, we lose much of our strength by the 10th month of spiro and estrogen. If someone is taking an appropriate HRT regimen, they will get their butt kicked on a basketball court or soccer field just like any other female.

    I'm glad I saw this. Thank you.

    Karin

    ReplyDelete