A transgender high school wrestler is testing the tolerance of even the most ardent transgender supporters.
Mack Beggs, 17, won the Class 6A state girls wrestling championship in the 110-pound weight class on Saturday. Beggs is a female-to-transgender who prefers to dress and behave in a stereotypical masculine manner.
The teenager, who suffers from the mental disorder gender dysphoria, began taking testosterone injections more than a year ago to help her develop male characteristics such as facial hair and to build muscle mass.
Beggs’ testosterone treatments led to criticism and a lawsuit aimed at preventing her from competing against girls next year.
The Euless Trinity high school student defeated 3 girls to claim her championship title. 2 other girls forfeited by dropping out of the competition in protest.
After Beggs’ semifinal win, one parent, Patti Overstreet, stood up and yelled “cheater” at the teen.
There were boos and a smattering of applause after Beggs defeated Chelsea Sanchez in the finals on Saturday to remain 56-0 on the year.
Beggs’ parents claim she insisted on wrestling with the boys, but the University Interscholastic League (UIL) unanimously voted last year to determine gender based on the sex listed on the birth certificate.
Parents and wrestling fans complained bitterly that testosterone is a performance enhancing drug that gives Beggs an unfair advantage over other girls.
Transgender supporters complained that the UIL’s birth certificate rule forced Beggs to wrestle girls rather than boys whose testosterone levels are more in line with hers.
The UIL examined Beggs’ medical records and determined she qualified because a doctor prescribed testosterone for her mental disorder.
But the International Olympic Committee, MMA and NCAA disqualifies athletes who are prescribed performance enhancing drugs.
Experts in the medical field agree there is no medically acceptable reason to inject an otherwise healthy girl with massive doses of testosterone.
Others point out the increasing abuse of performance enhancing steroids among adolescents and teenagers, many of whom refer to testosterone as “Vitamin T”.
The controversy drew hundreds of comments from readers of the Star-Telegram, who expressed their anger and frustration over former President Obama’s gay agenda legacy.
“Tolerance is a ruse to get people to let their guard down and accept evil as our morals as a society circles the drain just to make %.01 of the population feel accepted,” wrote Nick Rausch.
Reader Billy Marky wrote:
“There you have it. The beginning of the END of girls/women’s sports. How ironic that all the liberal feminists that fought for women to be able to play sports have now led the charge that eliminated the very thing they fought for.”
And there was this comment left by Ricki Cisar of the Wharton School:
“Love it. Love that we can legally beat women. They have had it coming for decade.”
