“Mack Beggs identifies as a boy, but his birth certificate says he’s a girl. In Texas’ University Interscholastic League, that means that the high school wrestler can only compete against girls, even though he takes testosterone as part of his transition.”-Chuck Schilken, Contact Reporter, Los Angeles Times
The article further states that Mack won the state title with a 56-0 record for the year. Some of the wins by forfeit because some competitors refused to wrestle against her; not because she identifies as a boy, but because she takes testosterone supplements which they feel give her an unfair advantage because as the physician quoted in the article stated the treatments “are in the same family and have the effect of increasing muscle mass and strength gains.” (Mines 2017)
In light of MMA fighter Fallon Fox routinely crushing her opponents before revealing a sex change operation, and giving one of her opponents a concussion and a broken eye socket; their fears may not be unfounded.
Here is where the league/district got it wrong.
In an effort to be fair to one student, they were unfair to the rest of the students. The article states that Mack’s use of testosterone were “well below the allowed level,” according to the Washington Post. Did the other students competing against Mack know there was an “allowable level” and were they given the opportunity to take that “allowable level” if they so desired? Is the district opening themselves up to reverse discrimination lawsuits as a result?
According to the article the reason Mack did not compete against the boys was because the rules expressly state that one must compete according to the gender listed on their birth certificate.
Here is where the district league got it right.
To eliminate all the confusion over gender issues they keep things simple. If your birth certificate says boy. Then you compete with the boys. If it says girl, then you compete as a girl. I don’t know much about how that all works once the change is complete, but I believe once a complete sex change has taken place, meaning all subsequent operations have been performed, then the person undergoing the procedure can legally have their name and gender changed. If you want to certify this, I suggest you consult with an attorney or conduct further research on your own.
School officials have it tough today. The rules were simple 50, 30, even 20 years ago. Not so today. Therefore we should have some compassion for the people who have to sort through all this stuff and make decisions on complex issues. Sometimes the best way to do that is to keep it simple.
Here’s where the parents got it wrong
I wonder about the wisdom of allowing any young person under the age of 21 making major, life altering decisions at critical junctures of human development such as adolescence. I don’t know the personal details of this family, but I hope that counseling and mental health services are being taken advantage of to ensure that this is the best option for this young person. There is and will always be debate on whether or not LBGT’s are born that way or made as a result of some life altering occurrence, but no one can argue that the decision to become transgendered in preparation for a complete sex change is not something to be taken lightly, and I’m not comfortable with allowing a young person under the age of 18 to begin this process. We have laws designed to prevent young people from underage drinking that were set up to protect them from becoming alcoholics. Why do we not do the same for life altering procedures?
Here is where the parents got it right
Parenting is a tough job. Sure books on parenting abound, but there is no book to teach you how to raise YOUR child. I may not agree with how these parents are handling this situation, but I applaud them for trying to be supportive of something they may find frightening and difficult to understand. These are uncharted waters for them as well so it may be they have no clue what to do or how to handle it. I know what I think I would do, but then, it’s not my child. Obviously these parents love their child unconditionally and in a world that won’t, isn’t that one of the most fundamental jobs of parents?
Here’s where the crowd got it wrong
You don’t boo young people. Unless the person is exhibiting crass behavior, acting a complete fool, or being totally disrespectful, adults should not be booing young people who have achieved a well earned victory. We may not like how Mack won, but by all accounts this young person attempted to follow the rules set by the adults. Now that the adults see the outcome, they should set about working together to make the future fair for everyone. Some are attempting to do that with a lawsuit that states she should either be able to compete against the boys or “prevent him from taking part the girls’ postseason competition…“I don’t know if that is the proper solution. By forcing her to compete against the boys I wonder what Pandora’s box will be opened as a result. We have already witnessed the potential for carnage of allowing a former male to compete against females in the MMA. Neither do I think a person who works hard should be denied their right to compete. Might a better option be to prohibit the use of the testosterone during the sports season?
As a person of color, I have experienced first hand the inequities of sports. Our sports teams were routinely cheated against by unfair, corrupt, and racist officials and we were hurt and angered by the injustice. Our coaches taught us to work harder and pushed us further because they knew the only way we could beat that unjust system was to be better. As a result, our teams won back to back state titles in basketball and football; and were consistently ranked amongst the top in our league.
For those female competitors this unfair competition sucks! I get that. I’ve lived it. I encourage you to work harder. Find your advantage and overcome this obstacle. To Mack, growing up is tough. There isn’t person on the planet who hasn’t struggled in some way with finding their personal identity. I pray that God will guide you to His place of peace.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but here’s what I know.
God desires to walk with us during our struggles. If we allow God to be the center of our universe, He will guide us through every problem we face. Whether it is gender identity, or unfair competition we should seek the face of the one who made us and ask Him to help us, to guide us and our decisions, and help us to make sense of a world that sometimes seems to make no sense.
Stuff Inside My Head 