Imagine for a moment, that you are in your senior year, and you go to try out for the girl’s softball team, only to find out that, because your body is slightly different, you are not allowed to play. You are a woman, but in these people’s eyes, you are a confused boy, trying to be a star. 

Just this year, a law was passed in Wisconsin forbidding transgender people to play in the sports that they belong in. Now, what I mean by this is, if a transgender boy tries to play baseball, he will not be allowed. If a transgender girl wants to be on her local high school’s girls track team, she will not 

be permitted. 

Now, on an Olympic level, the science stands behind it and is understandable. They want the playing field to be level. However, at a high school level, for most teenagers, this is their last time to play. This is their last opportunity to have those memories and to get the kick of adrenaline when you hit a home run or you win the 800-meter race an entire 30 seconds before the second-place runner crosses. 

These women and men should not have to lose memories and opportunities, simply because they want to compete against people of the same sex. If anything, they should be encouraged. When you get to high school, the first thing they tell you to do is to join a club or sport. They say it helps you find community and relieve stress. If that is so true, then why would they take that away from the people struggling to be themselves?

Struggling to wear a dress or put on makeup, afraid of what someone might say or think. 

When someone comes out, they need community, and that is what a sports team is. It is a community you win and lose with, you laugh and cry with, you smell like sweat with, and, most importantly, you be yourself with.Transgender Students in Sports: High School Level

If transgender teenagers cannot even have that when they come out, how will they know how to have this sort of community in life after high school and college?