In what has become the latest flashpoint for conservative attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, trans student athletes have been singled out for exclusion by legislation in more than 31 states this year. Why, exactly, so many adult politicians feel their time is best spent conjuring evidence-free arguments about “fairness in girls’ sports” remains baffling. But among the most galling aspects of the whole maelstrom has been the absence of trans student voices from the conversation.
An affecting new documentary is about to deliver a sorely needed dose of clarity. Hulu released a trailer this week for Changing the Game, which will hit the streaming service June 1, featuring student athletes who have been at the center of recent legal challenges.
Of course, rather than the phantom menaces conservative legislatures make them out to be, these young people are just that — young people who like playing sports. Hearing what running, wrestling, and skiing means to them in their own words lends a human element to what can seem like a theoretical debate playing out across daily headlines. Their strength of will in the face of heckling parents, bullying peers, and transphobic lawmakers is more inspiring than any victory on the field (though they’re pretty badass competitors, too).
Two of the film’s subjects, Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller, were the tragets of a Connecticut lawsuit brought by four cisgender girls who saught to have them banned from competing in girls’ track and field events. A judge dismissed the suit last month, as Yearwood and Miller have both since graduated high school and decided not to compete in college sports. The judge also indicated that the plaintiffs could neither point to any other trans student athletes competing in the state nor demonstrate that their doing so would challenge the plaintiff’s rights.
Since Changing the Game first premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2019, the legislative assault on trans student athletes has gained tremendous and alarming momentum. “I’ve definitely been bullied by more adults than kids,” says Mack Beggs, one of the film’s main subjects, who made headlines when he became the Texas State Champion in girls wrestling. The recent legislative avalanche has no doubt emboldened such adult babies in the stands who see fit to neg on other people’s kids. But as the subjects of Changing the Game prove, trans student athletes are tough as nails and won’t stand down without a fight.
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