A North Carolina high school volleyball player who was hurt when a transgender girl spiked the ball at her has pushed for a law that would make it illegal for transgender athletes who were born men to play on female sports teams.
On Wednesday, Hiwassee Dam High School senior Payton McNabb said that a transgender player gave her a headache and hurt her neck in September.
After the North Carolina High School Athletic Association decided to let biological men and women participate in the same sports, McNabb told WLOS that the decision “has forever changed my life.”
She still has trouble seeing, paralysis on her right side, a steady pounding in her head, nervousness, and sadness because of the trauma.
McNabb said she had “impaired” thinking skills and needed special training because of this.
She told the politicians how she hurt herself playing volleyball and had to switch to softball, where she can’t give it her all.
McNabb knew that his playing days were coming to an end, so he didn’t try to change things for himself. I’m proud of all the women who play sports today. People like my family members, my little sister, and the rest of the people on my team.
She said that putting men and women of the same biological sex on the same team is dangerous. If things don’t get better, I’m sure I won’t be the last person to come in here to complain about an injury.
Riley Gaines, who used to swim for the University of Kentucky and was an All-American, also spoke out in favor of the bill. To put it in her own words, her tweet said, “Watch the clip of Payton McNabb getting spiked in the face by a male competing with the women.”
Then try to find out where she first showed up in public. “It was an honor to stand with her to protect women’s sports,” said the congressman from North Carolina.
Gaines and Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who has made a stir, used to swim together in college.
Gaines’ public resistance to an NCAA rule that would have let Thomas participate against Gaines in Division I women’s competitions was a big reason why Thomas became well-known.
The North Carolina House, which is ruled by Republicans, passed H574 (the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act) on Wednesday. This law says that transgender women can’t play on middle school, high school, or college sports teams.
Seventy-three percent of students to thirty-nine percent are in favor of biological sex segregation in sports because it is supported by “reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” Three Democrats agreed with the idea.
The bill will be discussed in the Senate on Thursday, where it could face resistance. Under the Senate plan, high school sports would have to follow new rules.
House Minority Whip Jennifer Wexton called the bill “a bill to be inclusive, not exclusive,” and the bill’s main author, Republican Representative Kristin Baker, agreed. The goal of the program is to make sure that everyone has the same chances and doesn’t have to worry about anything.
Rep. Vernetta Alston (D-NC) said that sports accidents happen to people of all ages, income levels, and physical abilities. She said that the GOP was making the problem bigger than it was by focusing on a small number of cases.
Alston said during the meeting that the rule might make things worse for a group that is already at a disadvantage. He said, “It’s just an excuse for bigotry and part of a bigger plan to stop transgender people from living their lives.”
Baker says that McNabb’s injuries were the last thing that pushed him over the edge.