Martina Navratilova Comes Out As A Transphobe

As you longtime TransGriot readers are aware of, I am a huge tennis fan and played on my high school's varsity tennis team.

I not only followed Renee Richards emerging story back then, but her ultimately successful federal civil rights lawsuit against the US Open in 1977 that allowed her to play professional tennis a s a trans women

I also remember when Martina Navratilova came out in 1981, and endured homophobic abuse and misgendering shade thrown at her as she became with Renee Richards' help as her coach, one of the all time tennis greats with 18 Grand Slam title wins to her credit.

She has also been an advocate for lesbian and gay rights.   Not so much when it comes to the 'T' in TBLGQ.

Navratilova solidified her status as a transphobe when she penned a transphobic and TERFy sounding article in the Sunday Times of London that stated trans women competing in women's sports is 'insane' and is 'cheating'

“It’s insane and it’s cheating. I am happy to address a transgender woman in whatever form she prefers, but I would not be happy to compete against her. It would not be fair,” wrote Navratilova in that article.

Naw you hypocrite.  What's insane is your comment.  I also note that you didn't complain or have a problem when you beat Renee Richards three times when you played her, so have several sections of seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium on that one.

This also comes in the wake of transphobic comments Navratilova made back in December in which she slammed Dr Rachel McKinnon, who became the first out trans feminine athlete to win a track cycling world title back in October .

Naw Martina, you do not get to get to hold Renee Richards up as a human shield to deflect the justified comments we have for you making your loud, wrong and transphobic statements, especially in light of the fact that Republican controlled states like South Dakota are trying to pass laws banning trans youth from competing in sports.

.I find it interesting that cis feminine people like yourself as long as you're beating trans feminine athletes have no problem with competing against us in the women's sporting ranks.but the nanosecond we trans women start winning events,  all of a sudden it's 'unfair'.

Miss me with that transphobic noise.   That BS laden argument about trans women dominating cis women in competition hasn't happened yet anywhere on the planet.

Know how many Grand Slam titles your homegirl Renee Richards won during her playing career?   Same as Anna Kournikova...ZERO   Know how many trans Olympic athletes we have had since we've been allowed by the IOC to compete?  ZERO

The only trans feminine person that has even made an appearance at the Olympics was model Lea T, and she was one of the national placard models during the Rio Games opening ceremonies.

It is an argument that is also insulting and disrespectful to cis feminine athletes, and one we're tired of hearing in Trans World.

And you damned right we trans advocates, parents of trans kids, and our accomplices are going to swiftly call out and snatch the wigs of you or anyone else making loud and wrong transphobic claims about our community and think we're just going to let that crap stand.

You can be mad and stay mad about that.

Oh, one more thing.  How about you read a book or two along with the science backing up the IOC policy that allows trans feminine athletes to compete in  sports as is our right to do so.

Let Arqueze Girdy Compete!

As y'all know I'm am a huge proponent of letting trans people compete in whatever sporting events they have the talent and drive to win in.

Growing up in Texas and getting the opportunity to see the Houston Rodeo, I have watched people compete in barrel racing.   It's a sport in which a competitor riding a horse tries to navigate three widely spaced barrels in the fastest time on a triangular course.

You also must do so while directing the horse to go in a cloverleaf pattern around the barrels without knocking them down,  you falling off the horse, or the horse falling during the run and failing to cross the start-finish line.  If any of or a combination of those events happen, you receive a NO TIME for the run. 

Barrel racing is one of the few rodeo events in that macho rodeo sporting world that women are the predominate participants in.  We also have smaller rodeo competitions that happen here in the Houston area and across the state.

Since Black cowboys like Bill Pickett are credited with inventing the sport, many of these smaller rodeos are Black owned and run. .

It's time to introduce you readers to barrel racer Arqueze Girdy



Arqueze is a 5th generation rodeo competitor in her family who is trying to make it to the WPRA (Women's Professional Rodeo Association) professional ranks in her sport.

She also happens to be trans feminine.    That shouldn't be a problem, but it looks like somebody at the MLK Scholarship and Rodeo taking place at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds tomorrow has a problem with Girdy being there.

She's dealing with transphobia on the amateur rodeo circuit as she pursues her quest n to get to the professional ranks and one day compete in the WPRA events like the Houston Rodeo at NRG Stadium.

'They never come out and say it's because I'm transgender.  They say I'm not qualified", Girdy said in an interview with Houston's ABC13.   "I want to make history and open doors and help people. There are other people in my situation," she said.

Girdy texted her entry form and paid her fee to compete in the rodeo slated to happen at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds, but still hasn't heard from them. 

After not returning requests for comment from ABC13, the promoters for tomorrow's event finally put out a statement on Thursday evening.

"The promoters of the 1st Annual MLK Scholarship Rodeo and Trail ride are pleased to hold its inaugural event on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 9 a.m. at The Fort Bend County Fairgrounds. 

The goal of the event is to raise scholarship funds for deserving students in the Houston and surrounding areas. The rodeo and trail ride are open to ALL to attend and participate. 

Prospective participants should recognize that although this is an amateur event, which claims no professional affiliation whatsoever, all rodeo events and participants will be governed by rules and standards similar to those set forth by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and Women's Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (WPRCA). 

As for Ms. Girdy's concern regarding her ability to compete in this inaugural event, she first should make sure she has been in contact with official event promoters and affiliates, as we have only taken pre-registration up to this point and have yet to collect any funds from any participants; all registration will be completed at the fairgrounds. Secondly, if she has pre-registered, she should be aware of what is required at the time of entry. 

We are looking forward to Saturday's event and welcome everyone out to support our scholarship fund and enjoy a day of rodeo fun and entertainment."

Yeah, right.   Looks like y'all were planning to not let her compete until this made the news.

We'll see if the organizers of this event actually let Ms. Girdy compete, or are just selling woof tickets so they don't look transphobic to the world.

Hmm, looks like I may need to make a trip down I-69 to Fort Bend County to see what's happening with my barrel racing trans sibling.

The bottom line though, is that Black trans people exist, and you need to let her compete.

TransGriot Update (12 January):  Hearing disturbing chatter from peeps who attended the event that Arqueze was NOT allowed to compete.    Formulating next steps now

Still Looking For Our First Trans Olympian

The end of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang also means that we have gone through another Summer and Winter Olympiad since the IOC opened the doors via the 2003 Stockholm Consensus for trans athletes to compete with no trans athlete competing in either Games. . 

The Consensus was subsequently updated so that trans masculine and trans feminine athletes would not require genital surgery to compete in an Olympic Games.

The first Olympics that trans athletes were eligible to compete was the 2004 Summer Olympics in  Athens, and the first Winter Games trans athletes were eligible to compete was in Torino.

Canadian cyclist Kristin Worley made a bid to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games that unfortunately fell short and was mired in controversy.  She filed an ultimately successful lawsuit that forced Cycling Canada to open up the sport to trans athletes

On our side of the border trans masculine Keelin Godsey delayed taking testosterone for his transition to chase his dream of qualifying for a US Olympic team. 

Godsey tried to qualify for those same Beijing Games, but finished seventh in the women's hammer throw with a 66.55 meter throw.  Godsey missed qualifying .for Beijing and making history by an agonizing ten feet. 

Godsey did make history by making the US 2011 Pan American Games team and competed in the hammer throw, finishing fifth with his lifetime best of 67/84 meters.

He tried to qualify for the 2012 London Games. Despite making another personal best throw at the US Olympic Trials, he missed qualifying for London by an agonizing eleven inches.

So far the only appearance of a trans person at the Olympic Games has been model Lea T breaking ground as one of the placard models for the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Games.

Hopefully that will change either in the next Summer games in Tokyo in 2020 or the next Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022  and we will finally see a member of our trans family qualify as an Olympic athlete. .

Whoever that trans athlete is that finally does this for transkind, one thing they are guaranteed to get is international media coverage for making that sporting history

Mack Beggs Is A Back To Back Undefeated Texas Class 6A Wrestling Champ

Because the UIL played itself and refused to change a rule that forced Euless Trinity trans masculine wrestler Mack Beggs to wrestle against girls when he would prefer to be wrestling against boys, Beggs cruised to an undefeated 2017 season in his 110 pound weight class and capped it off with a Texas Class 6A state title

In case you wondered what happened in the wake of his initial 110 pound division title, a group of Republican legislators tried to pass during the 2017 legislative session a bill that would have barred him from competing because of the testosterone he was taking for transition purposes. 

Beggs took a low enough dose to start the masculinization process but not enough to build muscle.    That bill passed the Texas Senate (what else is new?) but died in committee with the legislative grownups in the Texas House.

All the University Interscholastic League, the governing body for Texas high school athletic and academic competitions  had to do was follow the NCAA standards.  But noooo, y'all still wanna do the right wing thing and stubbornly use for partisan political reasons the birth certificate as the basis for determining where you're placed for UIL competition purposes

Beggs is mulling a scholarship offer from an out of state college, and if he decides to wrestle in college, he'll get his wish to wrestle against men because the more realistic NCAA rules classify him as male.because of the testosterone treatments.

The 'Mack Attack' is back, and once again advanced to the UIL state wresting tournament being held in the northwest Houston suburb of Cypress, TX that started yesterday and concluded today.

Beggs successfully defended his Class 6A title, going undefeated once again to do so with a 36-0 record.    He won two matched by pinfall on Friday to advance to today's semifinal and finals.

But first, he had to get past Cypress Ranch senior Kayla Fitts, who is undefeated herself at 52-0 to get to the final.  He got past Fitts and earned a rematch with Chelsea Sanchez of Katy Morton Ranch, who he defeated last year to capture his first title. 

The championship rematch ended up with Beggs defeating Sanchez 15-3 by decision to cap the back to back title run.

So hate on transphobic haters.   Y'all wanna be mad and stay mad at someone, you need to direct your frustration at the UIL, not a kid simply trying to compete in the sport he loves.

Congrats to Mack Beggs for putting in the work to become a two time undefeated state wrestling champ.   Proud of you for handling your business despite the transphobic haters and being a class act. 

And note to the UIL.  Beggs is not going to be the last trans athlete who wished to compete in Texas.   There are trans kids matriculating rights now in Lone Star State elementary and middle schools, and it's past time y'all cleaned up the rules to let trans people play high school sports in their target gender as cisgender kids can do. .

Good luck to you Mack Attack when you move on to the collegiate ranks.

Now it's up to the UIL to do what they should have done and align their competition rules to mirror the NCAA ones so we don't have this happening again .   

Dawn Still Needs Help To Rep Team USA In Slovenia

I posted this back on August 6 about my homegirl Dawn Wilson  qualifying for the USA veterans fencing world championship team and trying to raise $3,000 to cover the expenses for her upcoming trip to maribor, Slovenia and the FIE Veterans World Fencing tournament set to kick off there on October 15.

So far she's only raised a little over $1,200 of the $3500 she's set as the target that she wishes to reach.

I know we have had several natural disasters that have gotten people's deserved attention.   but can y'all spear $1, $5, $10, $20 or more if you can to help her reach her goal.

Help a sister out so she can get to Slovenia and have a shot at bringing home world championship  gold (or silver, or bronze)

Here's the link to the GoFundMe 

Nike 'Unlimited Courage' Commercial Featuring Chris Mosier

Chris Mosier is a trans masculine triathlete who made history in 2015 when he qualified for the USA duathlon team for the 2016 World Championships.

Chris has also been one of the folks fighting for policies that will allow trans people to compete in sports on the local , national and international arena, and founded TransAthlete.com, which is a comprehensive website focused on trans inclusion in athletics.

Nike recently aired a commercial featuring Mosier entitled 'Unlimited Courage'