Anti-Trans Laws Are Preventing Trans Women From Playing on Womens Sports Teams – Teen Vogue

Sign the ACLU's petition to support trans student athletes.

Growing up, I never felt like I fit in. I was trying to be this cool, masculine, teenage boy, but I felt like I was faking it. In high school, I secretly shopped for girls clothes at Goodwill and would put them on after school. But when I looked in the mirror, I was so disappointed. I didnt understand it at the time, but what I was experiencing was gender dysphoria, a deeply painful feeling that comes from knowing that your sex assigned at birth and your body do not reflect your true gender.

One solace during this confusing time was running. Running was always my passion, but it was only after I joined the cross-country team that I found a community. The four years I spent on my high school track-and-field team and the three years I spent on the cross-country team were the best part of high school. My teammates became my whole friend group, my coaches were my mentors, and the discipline of group practices helped me focus better on my schoolwork. Running with a team gave me confidence, made me feel good, and also helped me forget about my sadness and internal struggles.

At the end of my senior year of high school, I took a major, life-affirming step that seemed sudden but was a long time coming: I came out to myself as trans. With college imminent, I could imagine myself becoming the person I wanted to be the person I am. That summer, I began aligning my body with my female gender and soon after started hormone replacement therapy.

When I started college last fall at Boise State University I took solo runs, but I didnt try out for track or cross-country. I needed some time to become comfortable with my new identity and college life.

Besides, I couldnt have tried out even if Id wanted to. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires women who are transgender like me to complete 12 months of hormone therapy to suppress testosterone as part of their gender transition before competing. I was already doing this because I needed it for my health, and I knew that by the start of my sophomore year I would be ready to compete again when eligible in the fall of 2020.

And then something devastating happened.

Earlier this year, Idaho legislators introduced HB 500, which not only banned trans girls and women athletes from competing on their school teams, but exposed all girls and women to invasive, intrusive genital testing if anyone challenges their gender. I joined activists and community members in speaking out against the bill at the statehouse, but it passed anyway. On the eve of March 31, Trans Visibility Day, Governor Brad Little signed the bill into law. That meant I could no longer try out for the Boise State track or cross-country teams or participate on any of my universitys sports teams even club or intramural ones.

So I decided to fight for myself and for all the trans and intersex student athletes across Idaho, as well as for all Idaho girls and women athletes, who shouldnt be subject to invasive sex verification exams in order to play school sports. On April 15, a team of lawyers from Legal Voice, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Cooley LLP filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the bill because it invades young peoples privacy and because it discriminates based on sex.

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Anti-Trans Laws Are Preventing Trans Women From Playing on Womens Sports Teams - Teen Vogue