Transgender teenage wrestler wins Texas state championship

[DonViejo]

Source: Reuters



26 FEB 2017 AT 12:28 ET

High school athlete Mack Beggs, a teenager who is transitioning from female to male, won his 110-pound weight class in the Texas girl’s state championship on Saturday, according to media reports.

Beggs, 17, and many of his opponents want him to wrestle against boys, but the transgender boy wrestled in the Texas championship for girls because of state sport regulations, which require athletes to compete according to birth gender.

The wrestler, a junior at Trinity High School in the Dallas suburb of Euless, had a 52-0 record ahead of the weekend tournament and was favored to win the 110-pound weight class in the championship. On Saturday, he beat Chelsea Sanchez 12-2 to earn the championship.

In some of his first media comments since the story was widely reported, Beggs said “I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my teammates,” the Dallas Morning News reported on its website.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/transgender-teenage-wrestler-wins-texas-state-championship/

[RKP5637]

1. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

3. This is NOT a victory for transgender rights.

A transgender male competed in the female category based on Texas law, but was taking testosterone to transition.

This was completely unfair to the girls who competed "unjuiced."

He should have competed in the male category, but Texas will have to change the law before that happens.

[RKP5637]

11. You're 100% right!!! Damn, I read it too quickly!!! Thanks for correcting me!!! n/t

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

12. No problem!

nt

[tammywammy]

2. Hopefully when the UIL meets this summer they adjust the rules.

He wanted to compete against boys and should have. This wasn't fair to him or the girls he had to compete against.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

4. Exactly.

I wish he had chosen not to compete.

Imo, his decision to compete made him look almost as bad as the state of Texas. He had a terribly unfair advantage. What boy wants to compete in the girls' competition?

[tammywammy]

5. Mack competing helped highlight the issue

If he had given up at the beginning of the season there wouldn't be pressure on the UIL to change the rules.

[Igel]

7. Highlighted the issue.

But was consequently unjust to those he competed against unfairly.

Always a conundrum, how much bad to do in the name of advancing one's self-interest. Best to hang a sign "I'm doing this for the good of the many" on it. Then the self-interest and the bad can be overlooked.

[LisaL]

15. Some girls forfeited without even trying to fight.

Presumably because they knew they didn't stand a chance.

[LisaL]

6. So TX doesn't have a rule against performance enhancing drugs?

Which testosterone certainly is.

[tammywammy]

8. Testerone provided by a doctor for a legitimate medical need is okay.

Mack was also tested and his testerone level was within levels allowed.

[LisaL]

9. Levels allowed for whom? Females or males?

[tammywammy]

10. None of the news articles I've read have specified.

Regardless the problem is that Texas UIL requires Mack to compete against girls instead of boys based off his gender at birth. The UIL needs to remove this discriminatory prohibition.

[LisaL]

14. There is a huge difference in testosterone levels between males and females.

If he is having testosterone therapy (since 2015), the goal would be to get him into male range. So I would think it would have been important to specify if he is within acceptable level for males or females.

[briv1016]

13. I'm more surprised that Texas has girls wrestling.

I just looked it up, even my NY public high school still only has boys wrestling.

[ColemanMaskell]

16. Well Texas has adult female MUD wrestling, don't they? Is it related in any way?