Disclaimer: I am in no way advocating for the legitimacy of transphobic policies or rhetoric. I’ve done my best to be as reasonable as possible, but obviously that is hard for this issue.
Ridiculous. Fairness in sports exists on an individual level and not a demographic one. It can be unfair for some cis athletes to compete against other cis athletes due to one having a dominating physical advantage, and ditto for trans athletes competing against other trans athletes. It can also be fair for trans athletes to compete against cis athletes if they have comparable athletic ability. The real issue is that most people don’t really care about unfairness in sports. If they see a 7ft basketball player competing against a 4ft basketball player they don’t think how unfair it is if both belong to the same demographic group. Why not have categories like boxing that make competition more fair for everyone rather than to treat trans people as a monolith?
I didn't decide anything. I don't work for the ACLU, and as such, I have no influence over what cases they take up. I am not pushing on trans sports the way you're saying I am. I will however fight for gender-affirming care for minors, seeing as that's what I was 15 months ago and I was deeply affected by the gender-affirming care ban in the state I grew up.
You came to an article I wrote 10 months ago just to insult someone. Why?
You came to this page after leaving about 20–30 comments on another one of my articles. You know what I say about sports? If studies are commissioned with the stipulation that none of the researchers involved have ever expressed sentiment one way or the other, and they show an advantage, I will accept the results and agree to a ban where the advantage is demonstrable (so, not chess for example).
Because by all means, there should be more studies. This needs to be put to rest. So you're right, I do have an all-or-nothing position—but that position is that science should be followed when legislating the rights of trans people.
To that end, this standard of "let's do what studies say" must not only apply to sports. You must also be willing to accept when research shows something contrary to your position, as it does when it comes to gender-affirming care for minors. Even a study commissioned by the Utah legislature found positive results with the care. All major medical organisations support it.
The problem is: you're not arguing based on science. You're arguing based on what you believe to be "common sense." You have no evidence to suggest that gender-affirming care is "mutilation," all you have is anecdotes from people like Chloe Cole. So I'll give you my own.
I was born a little over 19 years ago to Mexican immigrant parents and was brought up Catholic in a suburban part of Texas. My mom especially was very conservative, as was the area I grew up in. I did not have interactions with trans people as a child. I did not have interactions with gay people as a child. To give you a sense of how conservative my upbringing was, I remain the only out queer person in my entire extended family (this figure includes cousins once removed, second cousins, etc and is 70+ people).
And I knew I was different even when I was 4. Throughout my entire childhood, every candle I blew out, every prayer I made, and every star I wished upon, my desire was always the same: I wanted to be a girl. I wanted to be a girl so badly and was so afraid of those around me finding out that I'd increasingly isolate myself. At 9, I found out what it meant to be trans and decided to test the waters with my mom by indirectly asking her about her opinion about trans people. When she told me to stay away from "those people," I shoved myself straight back into the closet. I buried my feelings thinking that I could fix myself and make them go away forever.
But that's not how it works. I did truly make myself forget about that conversation with my mom, about what I'd wish for every day, and about all those times I'd fashion a dress out of a blanket and wear my sister's hairbands when I was alone. I locked it inside a box deep inside me that I couldn't bring myself to open. At least not until I was 14.
I don't know how to describe for you the feeling of having so many things rush back to you all at once, to uncover a part of yourself you locked away in order to protect yourself. Even after that, I tried to run from it for over a year. But my mental health got worse and worse until I eventually stopped fighting it. 3 months away from turning 16, I stopped fighting myself.
At this moment in time, the state of Texas was threatening trans kids' parents with investigations for child abuse, and that led to me hiding it from my parents for around a year—thinking "the less my parents knew the better." When I finally did so, AG Ken Paxton's threats were replaced by SB 14. Because of the law's vagueness, not even many therapists were willing to see me. When I asked my mom to go to another state for care, she responded with "you can get it when you get it here."
That night, I dialed into a hotline unsure of whether or not I'd make it through the night. Pray you never find out what it's like to dial into a hotline. Pray you never find out what it's like to feel so much pain that you consider ending it all. Overall, I was forced to wait for 27 months to get the care I needed. 27 months depressed, shattered, and hopeless, all the while knowing exactly what was missing. All the while knowing exactly the treatment that will stop my pain.
When I started hormones in October 2024, everything changed. My focus improved, I was able to set goals and aspire to things, the brain fog I'd felt my whole life disappeared, and the thought of wanting to die no longer filled my head. These changes were within the first week. At that point, nobody in my life had changed the way they referred to me (I didn't want to be a "burden"), my appearance was the same, and my clothes were the same. These changes were strictly hormonal, and they were kept from me.
Two months later, this enabled me to want to actually write great college essays and get into the school I'm currently writing this comment from. And thanks to doing my essays, I discovered I loved writing (which is why I'm here now). I'm so goddamn happy with my life that it's sometimes hard for me to believe.
You say I am too young to know how "deranged" my advocacy is and I fundamentally disagree with that. Quite the contrary—I am part of the first generation to have had my life profoundly altered thanks to a gender-affirming care ban. I experienced firsthand the consequences of those laws and I would do anything to keep others from being forced to go through what I did. Simply put, not everyone survives it. In a decade, it will not be me apologising to you; it will be you apologising to me for supporting a law that caused me and so many others undue suffering.
I know you don't agree with me and I know you don't understand me. I just hope that one day, you will see me as a person worthy of compassion rather than as a freak to insult.
Ridiculous. Fairness in sports exists on an individual level and not a demographic one. It can be unfair for some cis athletes to compete against other cis athletes due to one having a dominating physical advantage, and ditto for trans athletes competing against other trans athletes. It can also be fair for trans athletes to compete against cis athletes if they have comparable athletic ability. The real issue is that most people don’t really care about unfairness in sports. If they see a 7ft basketball player competing against a 4ft basketball player they don’t think how unfair it is if both belong to the same demographic group. Why not have categories like boxing that make competition more fair for everyone rather than to treat trans people as a monolith?
Ummm, obsessed much? Why do you keep coming back to this thread?
I didn't decide anything. I don't work for the ACLU, and as such, I have no influence over what cases they take up. I am not pushing on trans sports the way you're saying I am. I will however fight for gender-affirming care for minors, seeing as that's what I was 15 months ago and I was deeply affected by the gender-affirming care ban in the state I grew up.
You came to an article I wrote 10 months ago just to insult someone. Why?
You came to this page after leaving about 20–30 comments on another one of my articles. You know what I say about sports? If studies are commissioned with the stipulation that none of the researchers involved have ever expressed sentiment one way or the other, and they show an advantage, I will accept the results and agree to a ban where the advantage is demonstrable (so, not chess for example).
Because by all means, there should be more studies. This needs to be put to rest. So you're right, I do have an all-or-nothing position—but that position is that science should be followed when legislating the rights of trans people.
To that end, this standard of "let's do what studies say" must not only apply to sports. You must also be willing to accept when research shows something contrary to your position, as it does when it comes to gender-affirming care for minors. Even a study commissioned by the Utah legislature found positive results with the care. All major medical organisations support it.
The problem is: you're not arguing based on science. You're arguing based on what you believe to be "common sense." You have no evidence to suggest that gender-affirming care is "mutilation," all you have is anecdotes from people like Chloe Cole. So I'll give you my own.
I was born a little over 19 years ago to Mexican immigrant parents and was brought up Catholic in a suburban part of Texas. My mom especially was very conservative, as was the area I grew up in. I did not have interactions with trans people as a child. I did not have interactions with gay people as a child. To give you a sense of how conservative my upbringing was, I remain the only out queer person in my entire extended family (this figure includes cousins once removed, second cousins, etc and is 70+ people).
And I knew I was different even when I was 4. Throughout my entire childhood, every candle I blew out, every prayer I made, and every star I wished upon, my desire was always the same: I wanted to be a girl. I wanted to be a girl so badly and was so afraid of those around me finding out that I'd increasingly isolate myself. At 9, I found out what it meant to be trans and decided to test the waters with my mom by indirectly asking her about her opinion about trans people. When she told me to stay away from "those people," I shoved myself straight back into the closet. I buried my feelings thinking that I could fix myself and make them go away forever.
But that's not how it works. I did truly make myself forget about that conversation with my mom, about what I'd wish for every day, and about all those times I'd fashion a dress out of a blanket and wear my sister's hairbands when I was alone. I locked it inside a box deep inside me that I couldn't bring myself to open. At least not until I was 14.
I don't know how to describe for you the feeling of having so many things rush back to you all at once, to uncover a part of yourself you locked away in order to protect yourself. Even after that, I tried to run from it for over a year. But my mental health got worse and worse until I eventually stopped fighting it. 3 months away from turning 16, I stopped fighting myself.
At this moment in time, the state of Texas was threatening trans kids' parents with investigations for child abuse, and that led to me hiding it from my parents for around a year—thinking "the less my parents knew the better." When I finally did so, AG Ken Paxton's threats were replaced by SB 14. Because of the law's vagueness, not even many therapists were willing to see me. When I asked my mom to go to another state for care, she responded with "you can get it when you get it here."
That night, I dialed into a hotline unsure of whether or not I'd make it through the night. Pray you never find out what it's like to dial into a hotline. Pray you never find out what it's like to feel so much pain that you consider ending it all. Overall, I was forced to wait for 27 months to get the care I needed. 27 months depressed, shattered, and hopeless, all the while knowing exactly what was missing. All the while knowing exactly the treatment that will stop my pain.
When I started hormones in October 2024, everything changed. My focus improved, I was able to set goals and aspire to things, the brain fog I'd felt my whole life disappeared, and the thought of wanting to die no longer filled my head. These changes were within the first week. At that point, nobody in my life had changed the way they referred to me (I didn't want to be a "burden"), my appearance was the same, and my clothes were the same. These changes were strictly hormonal, and they were kept from me.
Two months later, this enabled me to want to actually write great college essays and get into the school I'm currently writing this comment from. And thanks to doing my essays, I discovered I loved writing (which is why I'm here now). I'm so goddamn happy with my life that it's sometimes hard for me to believe.
You say I am too young to know how "deranged" my advocacy is and I fundamentally disagree with that. Quite the contrary—I am part of the first generation to have had my life profoundly altered thanks to a gender-affirming care ban. I experienced firsthand the consequences of those laws and I would do anything to keep others from being forced to go through what I did. Simply put, not everyone survives it. In a decade, it will not be me apologising to you; it will be you apologising to me for supporting a law that caused me and so many others undue suffering.
I know you don't agree with me and I know you don't understand me. I just hope that one day, you will see me as a person worthy of compassion rather than as a freak to insult.