Transgender Athlete's Win In Girls Wrestling Causes Controversy

EULESS, TX — An 18-year-old wrestler has, for the second year in a row, won the Texas girls’ Class 6A 110-pound division. His victory, however, was met with a mixture of cheers and "boos" from onlookers.

Mack Beggs, the Euless Trinity High School senior, is transgender. As a part of his transition, Beggs takes low doses of testosterone. Some say this gives him an unfair advantage in the girls wrestling division, but the University Interscholastic League disagrees. The UIL does not consider the testosterone a banned substance because it comes from a doctor, the Washington Post reported.

The league also requires each athlete to compete based on the gender listed on his or her birth certificate, The Post reported. Because of that requirement, Beggs has been stuck wrestling against girls despite protests of his own and from some parents in the community.

A lawsuit, filed by the parent of a Coppell ISD wrestler, asked that Beggs be moved to the boys division or be removed from the 2017 tournament, The News reported.

That suit seemed not to impact the UIL's decision, and Beggs went on to compete against girls again in 2018. Baudhuin told The News, "I don't think anybody's learned a darned thing, other than there's a complete, abject failure of leadership at the UIL."

Lawsuits and "boos" don't deter Beggs, who told the Star-Telegram he's worked too hard to be discouraged by the negativity.

“I’ve trained too hard for haters to put me down,” he told the Star-Telegram after regional competition. “I’ve worked too hard for that. I work day in and day out. I’ve been through too much [expletive] for anyone to put me down.”

Rules set by the NCAA, USA Wrestling and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency classify Beggs as male because of his testosterone treatments, the Denver Post reported. That means he will be wrestling men in college.

The News reported Beggs is considering options for his college career and has reportedly been offered a wrestling scholarship. He did not name the school making the offer.

Beggs went 36-0 this season in his 110-pound class, the Washington Post reported.

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