Tag: transgender athletes

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Texas: Trans Wrestler Forced To Compete As Girl Wins 2nd State Title

As I reported yesterday, transgender high school senior Mack Beggs returned to the state wrestling finals this weekend after winning his division last year.

Beggs has asked to compete in the boys division but the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which regulates high school athletics in Texas, made him compete in the girls division based on the gender listed on his birth certificate.

Beggs is undergoing hormone replacement therapy under the care of a doctor, which the UIL allows. Beggs said last year that he’s taking less than the recommended dosage of testosterone in order to stay within the “allowed level.”

Beggs’ weekly injection of .18 milliliters (36 milligrams) is medically prescribed and monitored for the primary purposes of stopping his menstrual cycles and allowing him to grow body and facial hair.

That dosage is tiny compared to what male body builders typically inject – 500 to 1,000 milligrams of testosterone per week.

Over the past years, parents of Beggs’ competitors have been vocal saying Beggs’ use of testosterone constituted an illegal advantage over girls calling the hormone treatment “steroid use.”

On Saturday evening, the transgender male wrestler ended his perfect 36-0 season by winning his second straight UIL girls Class 6A state title in the 110-pound weight class.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there were a few boos last year but those cheering for Beggs drowned the haters out. This year the boos were back and more pronounced.

What I want to make absolutely clear is that Beggs’ won fair and square playing by the rules. Period.

Beggs’ focus moves now to “top surgery” in the next few months and then on college. He has already been offered a wrestling scholarship at an out of state college.

The NCAA, which regulates college athletics, allows transgender wrestlers to compete with their gender.

Watch video below of the last minute of Mack’s title-winning match.

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Texas: Undefeated Trans High School Wrestler Looks To Repeat State Title

High school wrestler Mack Beggs

One year ago, undefeated high school wrestler Mack Beggs won a Texas state wrestling title in his weight division.

The story was noteworthy not just because of the athletic achievement, but because Beggs is a transgender male who, due to state rules and laws covering scholastic athletics, is forced to compete as the gender assigned him at birth.

This year, Beggs is again undefeated going into the finals of state competition and, again, he will have to compete in the girls’ division.

Beggs would like to wrestle boys, but state law denies him that opportunity.

Although Beggs is aware of female wrestling opponents and their parents looking for evidence of “body-building” drug enhancement they might deem unfair, the truth is Beggs’ weekly injection of .18 milliliters (36 milligrams) is medically prescribed and monitored for the primary purposes of stopping his menstrual cycles and allowing him to grow body and facial hair.

Compare that dosage with what male body builders typically inject – 500 to 1,000 milligrams of testosterone per week.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Beggs shared that he plans to have “top surgery” in the coming months and apparently has at least one offer to join a college wrestling team.

No matter what, Beggs is confident that other people’s bigotry will not hold him back in life.

“People don’t realize that what happened during state, that was really, honestly, nothing,” Beggs said. “That didn’t stop me from competing. That didn’t stop me from being who I was. It sure as hell didn’t stop me from doing what I wanted to do in the past, and it won’t stop me from what I want to do in the future.”

Watch Beggs’ interview below: