Trans Girls Were Allowed to Participate in School Sports, Until They Won

American lawmakers made it their mission to ban trans girls in grade school sports. However, the number of laws restricting young women from their passion greatly outnumber the amount of players. Spectators and competitors are under the belief that girls who were assigned male at birth, have an unfair advantage in athletics. This is despite the fact that the athletes in question have lost to their competitors numerous times. 

In regards to trans people in sports, I will say this: I played sports as a kid and was consistently the worst on the team. Trust me, being trans did not give me a leg up. At all. I was a ball magnet. I got hit with a lot of stuff.

— Nicole Maines (@NicoleAMaines) February 26, 2019

The above Tweet is from trans actor/activist Nicole Maines. Trans girls are not super-powered in K-12 sports, as shown in Nicole’s example. Rather, young women who excel in athletics against cisgender competitors were forced to become the face of a dangerous revolution.

An article written by TIME states: “Such bans also serve as the first step in a larger assault on trans rights.” The first of these laws enacted was in Idaho in 2020. After that, half of the U.S. states enacted harmful guidance toward trans participation in grade school athletics. Some states followed with further anti-trans laws, such as banning discussion about the LGBTQ community in classroom settings and denying gender-affirming care to trans youth. 

There is, however, some hope in overthrowing these laws. In Utah, a judge temporarily overruled the outright ban on transgender girls participating in school sports after three trans athletes proved the law was against Utah’s constitution. This ruling allowed trans girls to speak before a state commission. The commission decides, on a case-by-case basis, if the students will participate. In Indiana, ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of a ten-year-old girl, directly after the new state law banned from her school’s softball team. A preliminary injunction was issued in July that allowed the girl to rejoin her team. 

While these steps are small, they are progress. With a continued fight, individuals both trans and cisgender, willing to stand up for  young women, will make a change.