Trans Girls and Women in Sports for Gender Liberation & Teen Vogue
Kara
On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases addressing the legality of state laws banning transgender women and girls from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. The West Virginia and Idaho cases challenge similar legislation restricting transgender girls from school athletics, raising broader questions about discrimination, equal protection, and access to public education.
West Virginia passed HB 3293, which bans trans girls and women from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity. A 15-year-old, Becky Pepper-Jackson, is the only transgender high schooler directly affected by this law, which prohibits her from joining her high school track-and-field team.
Against this backdrop, I was commissioned by Gender Liberation Movement to take film portraits of the notable pro-LGBTQIA+ speakers and trans youth for Teen Vogue.
Outside the Court, two groups gathered: conservatives on the right and a pro-LGBTQIA+ crowd on the left. The space between them was filled with a cacophony of sound—music, speakers, chants, and arguments overlapping and competing for attention.
One man had flown in from the UK, walking through the crowd with a sandwich board that read “trans women are men.” He interviewed a 15-year-old girl who said there was an 18-year-old trans person—whom she referred to as “that man”—on her basketball team, and that they were forced to use the same changing room. She said she confronted the school about it and was later galvanized by the attention she received on social media.
An article on aclu.org notes that the president of the NCAA recently told Congress there are fewer than 10 openly transgender athletes among the more than 500,000 college athletes in the United States—and not all of them are transgender women. The scale of the rhetoric outside the Court stood in stark contrast to the reality of who these laws actually affect.
On the conservative side, women held signs reading “save women’s sports,” while speakers focused on biology and narrow margins in athletic competition. On the LGBTQIA+ side, speakers argued that these policies are less about fairness and more about erasing trans identity altogether.
First openly trans NFL cheerleader Justine Lindsay debuted with Carolina Panthers' TopCats squad in 2022.
Trans masc athletes: lifter, triathlete Fernando Carillo; boxer Patricio "Pat" Manuel; Chris Mosier, the first openly transgender man to compete in the Olympics alongside other men.
A transgender marathoner Cal Calamia and a transgender track and field athlete and trans activist Andraya Yearwood. Andraya is best known for her role in the national conversation around trans inclusion in youth sports. Coming to public attention as a high school track runner in Connecticut, she has spoken openly about the scrutiny and discrimination she faced while simply trying to participate in sports as herself.
Chase Strangio, a deputy director for transgender justice and staff attorney with the ACLU. The first known transgender person to make oral arguments before the U. S. Supreme Court.
Asheville youth.
The budget for film, processing, and scanning was $250. I purchased two boxes of Kodak Portra 800 film stock—an increasingly expensive choice, but one with a long-standing reputation for portraiture. My assignment was to focus on portraits of notable speakers and trans youth. Gender Liberation Movement received 64 final portraits, 21 of which were published in Teen Vogue.
Portrait-making with my medium format camera feels like a dream. Film, to me, is a true test of an image-maker: so many intricacies go into producing a single frame, as opposed to shooting endlessly with a digital camera.
Most people opt for the safety, convenience, and affordability of digital image-making. With a film camera, however, you can capture a person’s soul. It’s not just about framing, manual focus, or calculating exposure; it’s about slowing down enough to make the person in front of the lens feel comfortable enough to open up.
