Transgender boy wins girls wrestling title as Texas struggles with transphobic laws
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When you look at the picture above of Mack Beggs, What do you see?
I know what I see. A wrestler. An athlete. A champion. A boy.
Yet the State of Texas demands that you see a girl. The state demands that Beggs see a girl in the mirror. The high school athletic associations try to force him to be a girl.
Simply because Beggs has “female” on his birth certificate, he has been prevented all wrestling season from competing against the boys. The transgender young man is on the girls team for Trinity High School, just outside of Dallas. Born in a girl’s body, he has transitioned to male throughout his life and — here’s the kicker — is taking testosterone supplements to aid his physical transition.
Beggs’ story was the subject of a powerful profile and follow-up column over the weekend in the Dallas Morning News. The pieces point to the ridiculous rules Texas and its interscholastic organizations force on transgender athletes.
When he won a regional competition last week, all hell broke loose. Carrying an undefeated season into the meet, he won some matches on the mat; Other matches he won by forfeit by female athletes who refused to wrestle him. (Update: A week later, Beggs won the state title in his weight class).
He should have never had to win a match by forfeit, and he should have never been forced to wrestle against girls. As a boy, Beggs should have been allowed to compete against other boys all along. His high school does have a boys wrestling team.
Yet because state law is so adamant about a few letters on a birth certificate, Beggs has wrestled the girls. After all, participation — finding a way to allow athletes to compete — is the utmost importance in high school athletics. Every student-athlete must be allowed to find their way into competition. If this is what the state of Texas demands, then that’s what he’s done.
When you look at the picture above of Mack Beggs, What do you see?
I know what I see. A wrestler. An athlete. A champion. A boy.
Yet the State of Texas demands that you see a girl. The state demands that Beggs see a girl in the mirror. The high school athletic associations try to force him to be a girl.
Simply because Beggs has “female” on his birth certificate, he has been prevented all wrestling season from competing against the boys. The transgender young man is on the girls team for Trinity High School, just outside of Dallas. Born in a girl’s body, he has transitioned to male throughout his life and — here’s the kicker — is taking testosterone supplements to aid his physical transition.
Beggs’ story was the subject of a powerful profile and follow-up column over the weekend in the Dallas Morning News. The pieces point to the ridiculous rules Texas and its interscholastic organizations force on transgender athletes.
When he won a regional competition last week, all hell broke loose. Carrying an undefeated season into the meet, he won some matches on the mat; Other matches he won by forfeit by female athletes who refused to wrestle him. (Update: A week later, Beggs won the state title in his weight class).
He should have never had to win a match by forfeit, and he should have never been forced to wrestle against girls. As a boy, Beggs should have been allowed to compete against other boys all along. His high school does have a boys wrestling team.
Yet because state law is so adamant about a few letters on a birth certificate, Beggs has wrestled the girls. After all, participation — finding a way to allow athletes to compete — is the utmost importance in high school athletics. Every student-athlete must be allowed to find their way into competition. If this is what the state of Texas demands, then that’s what he’s done.
