An Afternoon of Text-Based Advocacy For Transgender Athletes

                                                        Graphic I found online. Source unknown 

Well, I tried a new thing today.  In an attempt to get out of both my " comfort zone' & start to re-engage with advocacy work IN the community { as opposed to Social Media Advocacy}, I joined a text-banking campaign to try to get Florida voters to call our Governor and ask him to refuse to sign a cruel and discriminating bill into law. the bill in question will make it LEGAL for medical personnel to examine a  child's genitals to " prove" that she is a girl. This is aimed at transgender student-athletes , and I feel it is cruel and unusual. 

I received some--- interesting--- replies to my initial text. Suffice it to say that many Floridians are either 1) bigoted against trans people and/or 2} totally MISINFORMED about medical treatment for trans girls. 

It is truly heartbreaking that many people are so comfortable inn their cis-heteronormative mindsets/lives that they cannot open their minds and hearts to facts. 

Fact: Trans girls are GIRLS. 

Fact: Gender and assigned sex are two different things that often line up-- but sometimes a person assigned one sex birth knows their identity to be of another gender. 

Transgender people exist, and trans athletes deserve to play with of us, regardless ofthers of their gender. 

While I am grateful that I had this opportunity to do some justice work for other athletes, I am saddened by many of the responses from Floridians 

I'm emotionally and mentally exhausted from today. However, this does not mean that I am quitting my advocacy work. Quite the opposite--- as it becomes safer to do so, I plan to engage with others  in a more personal way in the near future. Even if the governor signs this disgusting bill into law, I will rest easier knowing that I actively worked for justice for transgender athletes in Florida. 

At Baptism, Christians are asked if we will strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?  {BCP page 305 }

To this we answer: I will, with God's Help. 

ALL of us who profess Christ as our Advocate and Sibling, have a responsibility to work towards making this world more just for all. 

I am a cisgender woman, but my faith and sense of duty to my human siblings requires that I stand up for those who are oppressed. As a cis-gender person, I cannot imagine the pain that a trans girl endures if she is told to play on the  boys' team. As a woman and former school athlete, I stand with ALL girls and women who wish to play sports. 

I will not give up. 

Namaste, 

Sarah McCarren

4 May 2021