I watched last week as Georgia legislators reviewed a bill to support the mental health of athletes. As a former high school athlete, I was excited to see House Bill 1104, which would offer mental health and suicide prevention resources to student-athletes, pass out of the House.
However, when HB 1104 reached the Senate Education and Youth Committee, it was hijacked to become an attack on LGBTQ+ students. The language foisted onto the bill bans transgender athletes from playing sports and using restrooms that align with their gender identity. It furthers the campaign in the General Assembly to render trans students invisible and target them for bullying and isolation.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
As a student-athlete, I’m devastated. Not because the original language of the bill would have substantially improved the lives of young athletes in Georgia, though it would. I’m devastated because unlike the male GOP legislators who passed the bill out of committee and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who declared that these changes protect women’s sports, I’ve played in a women’s sports team alongside trans athletes. I know this bill can only harm girls’ sports and open the doors for discrimination against trans youths.
I played alongside trans athletes my entire high school career. Inclusion of all students is vital to the integrity of high school athletics. The purpose of high school sports is to develop a sense of involvement and belonging. When lawmakers choose to exclude trans youths, they are choosing to deny the fundamental right of a supportive community that every young Georgian deserves.
In my freshman year, one of my mentors on the fencing team was a trans girl. As an upperclassman, she guided me through competitions, aided in my growth and supported me my entire season. When I’d complain about my knees aching, she’d teach me how to wrap them. When I had shin splints, she sat me down and iced them.
She selflessly helped coach me through my best result in my freshman year — a result that required me to win against her. I couldn’t be more grateful for her guidance. The idea that she might have been banned from our team simply because of who she is makes me sick.
Above all, our transgender teammates truly are just that: our teammates. They are our friends, our classmates and our equals above all else. The exclusion of trans athletes in high school sports asserts otherwise and creates a foundation for increased discrimination against all transgender students, whether or not they participate in sports.
When the only attention politicians give to trans students is through alienating and ostracizing legislation, politicians signal that transphobia is OK and even encouraged. Trans youths are dying every day, here in Georgia and across our country, because of the hateful environment these cowardly cruel politicians have cultivated. We will not tolerate this.
I know the problems that girls’ sports are facing. Girls’ sports continue to be underfunded and given inadequate support. Our athletes are frequently met with sexism.
For example, at my school, like many others, I saw differences in the amount of time and money devoted to boys’ sports. The differences may seem small — guys getting more time in weight rooms, food before games and greater recognition. However, these small differences reduce morale, respect and opportunity for girls’ teams.
At no point has the Georgia General Assembly tried to combat these real issues faced by girls in sports, yet these same legislators are suddenly pretending to care about us to justify their bigoted bans. My transgender teammates provided more support to my high school’s athletic department than any of these legislators ever pretended to offer.
Trans youths deserve to play in the sports team that they feel most happy and comfortable in. Exclusion has no place in our sports teams. To attempt to bully our trans teammates for simply existing when there is so much to be done to improve the lives of all Georgians is a deep betrayal of the values of empathy, understanding and community we all share.
Trans youths have and will always belong here. I and my peers will continue to fight and organize in solidarity with them because every young Georgian deserves to feel safe and accepted, whether in classrooms or on the field.
Marli English graduated in 2023 from Campbell High School, where she was a fencer. She is a member of the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition.
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