Texas officials grapple with issues in transgender case

INJUNCTION DENIED

SCHUYLER DIXON EULESS, TEXAS • A 17-year-old transgender wrestler who qualified for the girls state tournament while transitioning from female to male has become a high-profile test of a year-old Texas policy now being criticized by the attorney who tried to keep the athlete from competing.

Mack Beggs, a junior at Euless Trinity High School in the DallasFort Worth area, won a regional championship after two opposing wrestlers forfeited, apparently over concerns that Beggs has an unfair advantage because of testosterone treatments that are part of the transition.

Beggs, who has a 52-0 record, has a first-round match in the state tournament Friday in suburban Houston.

Attorney Jim Baudhuin unsuccessfully sought an injunction before the district and regional meets, seeking to prevent Beggs from wrestling during the transition.

Baudhuin now blames the state’s governing body for public school athletics and a vote a year ago by school superintendents and athletic directors that required athletes to compete under the gender on their birth certificates.

Baudhuin said his outlook changed because he said he read reports that Beggs had asked the governing body, the University Interscholastic League, to compete as a boy and was turned down. Baudhuin couldn’t confirm that account, and the UIL declined to discuss the specifics of Beggs’ case.

The UIL has a policy that allows banned substances for medical reasons. Beggs’ school district says it shared the athlete’s medical records with the UIL and that the testosterone is “well below the allowed level.”

“The more I learn about this, the more I realize that she’s just trying to live her life and her family is, too,” Baudhuin said of Beggs. “She’s being forced into that position. Who knows, through discovery we may find out that’s not the case. But every indication is, the way the winds are going now, the blame rests with the UIL and the superintendents.”

A year ago, superintendents and athletic directors voted overwhelmingly to require Texas public school officials to use a birth certificate to determine an athlete’s gender, with transgender advocates warning that such requirements would violate the UIL’s constitution and federal Title IX laws.

The UIL defended its rules-making process as “transparent” and a reflection of the public across more than 1,400 member schools.

Texas is one of seven states that require high school students to provide a birth certificate, proof of gender-reassignment surgery or documentation of hormone therapy, according to TransAthlete. com. It says other states such as California and Florida have more inclusive rules.