I am the mother of four daughters, two of whom, ages 19 and 20, have experience with a transgender athlete on high school sports teams. During freshman year, my daughter joined the cross-country team. She came home and told me that there was a male-to-female transgender athlete on the team.
She said it was not fair, and was there anything we could do about it? I told her, only if you want to make a federal case. In retrospect, I wish we had because this is becoming a much larger societal issue than we ever imagined.
To clarify, I have nothing but compassion for someone struggling with gender identity. The child on my daughters’ teams was never anything but polite, friendly, and respectful when I spoke with her. She was included at our home for any team events hosted by my family. To my knowledge, she was never outwardly bullied by any member of the team, nor did she ever exhibit any negative behavior to any teammate.
What stands out to me the most is that although my daughters never felt it was fair that they had to compete for team positions with a biological male, they do not feel comfortable speaking out about this issue.
One would think that my 19-year-old Division 1 soccer player would feel threatened by the possibility of a biological male becoming part of her team or having to compete against a biological male. However, she does not want to make a big deal about this issue. As their parent, I believe they were the recipients of subversive bullying. They knew they could not speak out about the inequality of having a biological male on their team. This child’s needs were underlying the essence of the meaning of team.
As the saying goes, “there is no “I” in team.” But in this situation, they managed to find one. I believe it was an unfair situation not only for my daughters but also for the transgender child. No one should have the focus of the needs of an athletic team be on their own personal needs.
Testimony on NH HB1180
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Author: Op-Ed
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