Mack BeggsMack Beggs, a 17-year-old transgender wrestler transitioning from female to male, won the Texas Class 6A 110-pound girls' state championship Saturday afternoon in suburban Houston.
Beggs, a junior from Euless Trinity High School outside Dallas-Fort Worth, won the title with a 12-1 victory over Chelsea Sanchez of Morton Ranch High School in the finals. He completed his season with a perfect 57-0 record.
Texas is one of seven states with separate competitions for girls and boys. Texas' University-Interscholastic League -- the independent body that governs collegiate and high school athletics in the Lone Star State -- had implemented a rule last year, requiring transgender individuals to wrestle against the gender listed on their birth certificates.
Beggs' family has said Mack would rather be wrestling boys.
Before the championship round the PA announcer told the crowd not to take part in action that would cause any wrestler to "doubt their accomplishments this weekend." Beggs took part in the parade of all the state finalists, with his hood up and headphones on most of the time.
When Beggs' name was announced as a finalist, a large cheer rose up, the Houston Chronicle reported. It was followed by a small number of boos. Beggs' win was met by an extended cheer mixed with some boos.
Beggs won all four of his matches at the state tournament rather handily. In his first match Friday, the 5'2" Beggs earned a 18-7 decision over League City Clear Springs' Taylor Latham, who brought an 11-14 record into the state tourney. Later that day, Beggs earned a 12-4 major decision over Amarillo Tascosa's Mya Engert (37-9).
In Saturday's semifinals, after needing to take a time-out for a bloody nose, Beggs pinned Grand Prairie's Kailyn Clay to advance to the finals.
Beggs qualified for the state tournament after two of his three opponents forfeited at the Regional tournament the previous weekend.
Throughout the state tournament, Beggs and his coach did not talk to the gathering of reporters assigned to the story. His opponents and their coaches were similarly silent, sometimes saying they had been instructed not to talk to the media by their school administrators.
Off-the-mat legal battles
Mack Beggs' journey to a high school title has received considerable coverage from media organizations that normally would not cover amateur wrestling, even the state championships in one of the largest states in the country.
In recent months, transgender issues have become major news stories. North Carolina passed HR 2, which requires individuals to use bathrooms which correspond to the sex on their birth certificate. (The Texas state legislature is considering a similar bill.) Just this past week, President Donald Trump announced the decision to overturn an Obama administration directive that let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their chosen gender identity at schools which receive federal funding.
As stated earlier, Texas UIL had instituted what has become known as the "birth certificate rule" last August, requiring student-athletes to participate in the appropriate competition based on the sex listed on their birth certificate. The UIL put the matter to a vote of school district superintendents across the state. It overwhelmingly passed 586-32.
The UIL's decision went opposite of the NCAA, which in 2011 set transgender policy as requiring a trans male athlete who is receiving testosterone treatment, such as Beggs, to compete on a men's team, while prohibiting the athlete from competing on a women's team, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Before the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee issued updated transgender guidelines allowing athletes who transition from female to male to compete in the male category without restriction.
Part of that transition process involves taking testosterone, which normally would disqualify a student-athlete. Beggs began steroid therapy in August 2015. Beggs' school district says it shared the athlete's medical records with the UIL and that the testosterone level is "well below the allowed level."
Last week, after the conclusion of the regional tournament, it was revealed that a lawsuit had been filed against the UIL by attorney Jim Baudhuin, a father of a female high school wrestler who competes in a different weight class than Beggs. The suit sought to bar Beggs from competing against girls including at the state championships, claiming that allowing a wrestler to compete on testosterone exposes other female athletes to bodily harm. (At least one opponent at the Regionals had stated her decision to forfeit was based on her fear of being injured by wrestling Beggs.)
"There's a reason they're called performance-enhancing drugs and why they're banned by every anti-doping agency in the world," Baudhuin said. "There's no question it is an advantage."
Baudhuin sought an injunction to stop Beggs from wrestling in post-season competition; the courts refused.
"This is not and never has been some kind of vendetta or rivalry," Baudhuin said. "[Beggs] is a great kid. It is not hatred. It's a resentment because other parents see this as cheating."
Baudhuin said his outlook changed because he said he read reports that Beggs had asked the governing body, the University Interscholastic League, to compete as a boy and was turned down.
"The more I learn about this, the more I realize that she's just trying to live her life and her family is, too," Baudhuin said of Beggs. "She's being forced into that position. Who knows, through discovery we may find out that's not the case. But every indication is, the way the winds are going now, the blame rests with the UIL and the superintendents."
Meanwhile, the UIL stands by the so-called "birth certificate" rule. Spokeswoman Kate Hector said the UIL's policy is not to comment on a specific student, and, instead presented a general statement Wednesday: "To compete at this year's wrestling state tournament all students are subject to UIL rules and state law. This helps ensure a fair competition to the more than 400 students participating. We will continue to work with member schools to best meet the needs of all students."
The UIL declined to comment on whether there are other transgender wrestlers competing at state.
Others weigh in
Medical experts say competitive and safety claims made in the lawsuit have merit because Beggs' development as a male does give him a physical advantage against most female competitors in his age range and weight class.
In a detailed analysis of Mack Beggs' situation, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram consulted with two experts located outside of Texas.
Dr. Eric Vilain, professor of human genetics and pediatrics at UCLA and an adviser on gender issues for the IOC, agrees with the NCAA and IOC policies of allowing female-to-male athletes using testosterone to compete against males. He called the UIL's decision to use a birth certificate to determine gender "twisted logic."
"Most of the discussions" regarding the revised IOC guidelines "were for male to female [transition], which is much more controversial," Vilain told the Star-Telegram. "Female to male, this was a very easy consensus by saying the female to male athletes could compete in the male category, and would be allowed an exemption to use testosterone. It makes complete sense.
"That's why this case has a completely twisted logic based on some social argument that the sex on the birth certificate supersedes any other identity. It doesn't make any sense. From a sports perspective, men and women are in two different categories, and for good reason. If not, women would lose most of the time."
The Fort Worth paper also contacted Joanna Harper, a medical physicist in Portland, Ore. who is also a transgender female.
"Dealing with transgender adolescent athletes is probably the most difficult time frame to make a ruling. In the NCAA, there would be no question that Mack would be required to compete against men, but that's not an option for him because of the UIL rule," said Harper, who served as an adviser to the IOC. "I think the UIL rule is misguided, shortsighted and I actually find a wonderful irony in it" -- the irony being that the birth certificate rule was intended to protect female athletes from competing against males transitioning to female, Harper surmises.
In other words, a transgender female athlete whose testosterone level has not been decreased sufficiently would possess a physical superiority against female competitors. Yet by forcing Beggs, a transgender male taking testosterone, to compete against girls, his female opponents may be at a distinct disadvantage especially in regards to strength, with the unintended consequence of making competition less safe for girls.
"That's why this case has a completely twisted logic based on some social argument that the sex on the birth certificate supersedes any other identity. It doesn't make any sense. From a sports perspective, men and women are in two different categories, and for good reason. If not, women would lose most of the time."
"This is the exact opposite effect of what they had desired," Harper said. "Female to male, this was a very easy consensus by saying the female to male athletes could compete in the male category, and would be allowed an exemption to use testosterone. It makes complete sense."
It's possible that the situation could repeat itself at next year's Texas girls state wrestling championships. Beggs will be a senior, and has been a three-time state qualifier. The UIL has said it has no intention of putting a vote regarding the "birth certificate" rule before member schools again, citing the overwhelming support it received last summer.
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