Abbott is expected to sign the bill, which requires athletes to play on sports teams that align with the gender listed on their birth certificate.
See all: Texas bill banning sports participation of transgender student athletes sent back to House
Proponents say it would save girls from competing with stronger and bigger athletes. But transgender athletes say it unfairly targets them.
Sunny Bryant said that she has known who she is since the age of four.
“I’m a girl,” said the 8-year-old.
“It’s not a pretense. It’s not a phase. It’s real. There’s a difference between saying, ‘I want to be a girl,’ and ‘I’m a girl,’ and that was made very clear by him,” Sunny ‘s mother, Becca explained.
Sunny’s family has been supportive, and most of her young friends don’t ask for much. They have always played sports like baseball and gymnastics together.
But, when the Texas legislature began debating a bill that would allow Sunny to play only on boys’ sports teams, she and her mother went to Austin.
Both testified.
Sunny explained, “It was kind of emotional and I was really nervous.”
“It’s a solution looking for a problem. We don’t have a lawsuit in the state of Texas. We don’t have a case. The population of trans children is so small,” Becca said. “That means she’ll be the only girl in the locker room, the only girl on the team. And she won’t have that community.”
“It’s in my heart that I feel like I should be able to play the game, because I’m a girl too,” Sunny said. “I think they’re just afraid of us and they need more trans people in their lives.”
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