- May 20, 2015
- 1,162
- 113
you've never worked with a 12 year old struggling with gender issues, have you?
i get it.....we struggle with what we don't understand; took me a long time to even begin to wrap my head around it....i'm thankful it is something that has not hit too close to home
but no one is "deciding" to go through this, no one is "deciding" there's a benefit
no one asks to join one of the single most marginalized groups in the world, with statistically one of the highest suicide rates, on a whim
if they can benefit from participation in sport with their peers along the way, i have a hard time telling them 'no'........for the absolute few who's participation may result in unfair benefit, there already exist rules to deal with that (the case by case basis that exists within the NCAA & many high school governing bodies)
i have a hard time telling the trans male 8th grader that is throwing with the boys track team here right now that, along with all of their other daily struggles, that they can't go out and compete in an arena where they feel comfortable......and are accepted by their peers, both as teammates and by competitors, because it is hard for me to wrap my head around
and i know with 100% certainty that my daughters, in HS, travel, & college......have played against transgender athletes; several times unknowingly (and 100% of the time without caring)