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Trans athletes, and trans women in particular, have been facing increased attacks on their right to play on women’s teams.
Just this month, the United Conservative Party in Alberta introduced legislation that would ban trans athletes from competing in what it is terming “biological female-only divisions” and would use someone’s sex assigned at birth to determine eligibility.
Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad introduced a private member's bill in the spring that would have used similar “biological sex” requirements for eligibility to play on publicly-funded sports teams. That bill, made when Rustad was one of only two Conservative MLAs in the legislature, was voted down at first reading.
It can be hard to grasp the impact that these policies have on individual athletes and how they experience transphobia on and off the court, even when they are playing by the rules established by governing athletics associations.
Recently, Harriette Mackenzie, a star forward on Vancouver Island University’s women’s basketball team, took the extraordinary step of speaking out about what she experienced during a series of weekend games against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats.
In an emotional video, she spoke up about what it was like to compete in an environment where not everyone thinks you should have the right to play and how she was targeted in those games and on social media.
In response, the queer community in Nanaimo, and beyond, turned out in large numbers at the next home game to support her in a close-fought contest against the Douglas College Royals.
The energy in the gymnasium was electric, not unlike what it is like during a national championship game, and I am happy to bring you that story today.
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