As state wrestles with transgender issues, athlete enters the fray
Gender identity battle takes place on school mat
At 5 feet 2 and 110 pounds, Mack Beggs is a flurry of arms and legs, quickness and technique — “a little spider monkey,” in his mother’s words — which would make him a handful for any high school wrestler in his weight class, male or female.
He’s one of the best athletes around — a threetime state meet qualifier who won a gold medal in Saturday’s Class 6A championship — but his talent has in recent weeks become secondary to the aspects of his life that embody questions of educational policy, politics, belief and freedom that increasingly occupy 2017 America.
Beggs, 17, a junior at Euless’ Trinity High School, is transitioning from female to male, and because his birth certificate designates himas female, he was required under Texas high school regulations to compete against girls at the state meet Friday and Saturday at the Berry Center in Cypress.
It’s a rule that represents a sharp departure from anything on the national or international level, and it’s not likely to go away. And so, as a senior in 2018, Beggs — and any other transgender athlete — is likely to face questions again about why a boy is competing against girls.
“Given the overwhelming support for that (birth certificate) rule, I don’t expect it to change anytime soon,” said Jamey Harrison, the deputy executive director for the University Interscholastic League, which governs high school competitions in Texas.
“Those decisions are made by our elective body who makes our rules. Again, they spoke. … These were superintendents who are members of the UIL. Ninety-five percent of them voted for the rule as is.”
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.
League officials said the UIL “strives to provide fair and equitable competitions for all students.” Harrison said the UIL is “following both what our legislative council wants to follow and certainly what the overwhelming majority of our school membership wants to follow.” UIL stands by rule
Harrison, while not mentioning Beggs by name, said Saturday night that the UIL stands by its birth certificate rule. However, he said the agency hopes to obtain legislative support that would allow it more leeway to police studentathletes who are using performance-enhancing drugs under a doctor’s care.
“Thereal issue here is the use of performance enhancing drugs,” Harrison said. “The UIL does not have the authority to tell a student they are ineligible if they are using a performanceenhancing drug under the supervision of a doctor, as written in state law. Welook forward to working with lawmakers to fix that law.”
Harrison said he hopes the Legislature will help the UIL reach a better description of what constitutes a “valid medical reason” to use banned substances.
“Something that would be a little more proscriptive in what that means is something that I think that lawmakers will review, and we will be happy to work with lawmakers,” he said. “This is not about our birth certificate rule. This is about performance enhancing drug use.”
Others outside the UIL disagree, however. North Texas attorney and wrestling parent Jim Baudhuin earlier this month filed suit against the UIL, saying the rule is nonsensical and Beggs should be allowed to compete against boys.
“The NCAA has shown what should be done,” Baudhuin said. “The NCAA’s policy is that if you are transitioning from woman to man, once you take those injections, you close the door on competing against women and can compete against men. I think that is eminently fair.”
Similarly to the NCAA rule, which was enacted in 2011, the International Olympic Committee last year said that transgender athletes who are transitioning from female to male could compete in men’s events without restrictions.
Beggs’ transgender identification also comes at a time when gender issues, rights and restrictions are very much under discussion.
The Trump administration is preparing to roll back Obama-era administration guidelines that allowed students to use school restrooms that match their gender identity, not their assigned gender at birth.
In Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is pushing what he describes as a “Texas Privacy Act” that would restrict access to facilities for the transgendered.
Beggs’ mother, Angela McNew, said that debate represents much of the controversy that has enveloped her son.
“He is a wrestler, and he wants to wrestle,” McNew said, using the pronoun for her child that corresponds to his gender identity. “But he also wants to be an example for other transgender teens, and that is what makes him so special.
“Mack really does love himself. He is comfortable in his own skin, and that makes a lot of other people uncomfortable,” she said. “People hate and want to lash out and stay in their small world rather than thinking outside the box about someone who is different,” she said. “It gets to him sometimes when people lash out, but he’s trying to keep his focus.”
Beggs declined interview requests until the competition ended but said on Facebook last week that he felt “so sick and disgusted by the discrimination not by the kids, (but) the PARENTS AND COACHES. These kids don’t care who you put in front of them to wrestle. We just want to WRESTLE.”
Beggs joined the wrestling team as a freshman at Euless Trinity, which this year qualified 12 wrestlers for the state tournament. Texas is one of six states, along with Alaska, California, Hawaii, Tennessee and Washington, that sponsors a high school state champion for girls. The UIL has sponsored wrestling as a championship sport both for boys and girls since 1998-99.
Beggs first qualified in 2015, before beginning transition therapy, but failed to win a match. He went 1-2 in the 2016 tournament before entering this year’s tournament with a 52-0 record for his junior season.
McNew said family members have supported Beggs in every means possible, including in his wrestling career and in his desire to begin the transition from female to male, which began with testosterone therapy in October 2015.
“I’m his mom. God gave him to me for a reason,” McNew said. “There’s not a person in our family that does not adore him. Some families don’t support their loved ones. We completely support him in his decision and have given him all the tools he needs to succeed with his life.”
She said she had questions for several years about the gender identity of her child that were resolved about five years ago, when Mack was in the seventh grade.
“My aunt and I had been trying to figure this out, because it was more than about (Mack) being a tomboy,” she said. “We found that a Katie Couric special about transgenders was on television, and we sat down and watched it … (Mack) was like, ‘Yes, that is what I feel like. That is how I feel.’’
McNew said the family was caught off guard by the furor that erupted this month as Beggs prepared to compete in the Class 6A regional tournament in Allen where two wrestlers forfeited matches rather than wrestle against him.
Attorney Baudhuin, however, said he had attempted since last December to have the UIL intervene, based on his belief that Beggs should not be allowed to wrestle against girls because he benefits from testosterone therapy as part of his gender reassignment care.
“We reached out in December, and they did nothing,” he said. “And we finally said if the UIL isn’t going to do something, we will try to get a temporary restraining order, because this is not right, it’s not fair and she is cheating or whatever you want to call it.”
Baudhuin filed suit in Tarrant County, but the case was moved to Travis County, as is the practice with litigation involving the UIL. Baudhuin said he will not seek immediate action during the tournament because any delay would penalize other contestants as well as Beggs.
“She (Beggs) worked hard. She and her school tried to do the right thing, and this is not an attack on her,” he said. “(They) are great people and their coach is a great coach. They wanted to do the right thing, which is have (Beggs) wrestle against the boys.” Source of pride
LouWeaver, transgender programs coordinator for Equality Texas, said Beggs’ presence was a source of pride but was concerned that Beggs was required to compete against females.
“It’s a concern, because Mack is not a girl,” Weaver said. “He is not being seen for the person he is. Ablanket rule doesn’t work for everybody. It is troubling that he is being forced to compete with girls, but he is doing what is required. He is competing in a sport he is passionate about.”
The result, then, is something of a mixed blessing for transgender advocates.
“I’m excited to be witnessing trans history,” Weaver said. “I have never seen a trans athlete be celebrated at the high school level. He is a model for so many to celebrate. But, at the same time, I know we can do better.”
Beggs’ presence was not without controversy. The mother of his first opponent on Friday told a Dallas television station she didn’t want her daughter to wrestle Beggs.
“She’s a fighter, she’s not a quitter,” Lisa Latham said of her daughter Taylor of Clear Springs. ‘She’s a senior. She’s fought for the last three years to get here, and she’s going to see it through, even though I wasn’t sharing the same opinion.”