I started participating in sports at an early age and have been active my whole life. I’ve tried most sports available in my area, like soccer, swimming, cheer, dance, gymnastics, running and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It’s what I love. But something I love has turned into a source of pain.
When I was in 7th grade, I joined my middle school track team to compete in throwing events, just like my parents did. But that same year, a 6th-grade boy, known in court documents as BPJ, joined the girls’ team. BPJ identifies as a girl. I was forced to unfairly compete against and use the same locker room as BPJ.
In my 8th-grade year, BPJ started making extremely inappropriate comments to me and other girls that made me very uncomfortable. In any other situation, I would report the comments to my school immediately. But since BPJ identifies as transgender, I was worried I would be labeled as transphobic, and it would make things awkward on my team. So, I didn’t say anything and tried to stay as far away from BPJ as possible.
