Beyond the partisanship, there's more to say.
 | | Avion Pearce for The New York Times |
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 | By Susannah Meadows Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
The conversation about transgender athletes in elite sports has ceased to be one. As soon as it started, it devolved into name-calling, booing and partisan red meat. On one side are those arguing for fairness. On the other, inclusion. And the two concepts — former friends — are now separated by a seemingly unbridgeable chasm. So: end of conversation. |
Yet there's clearly more to say. (Isn't there always?) |
This is why I reached out to Iszac Henig, a trans swimmer competing for Yale University. When I first came across his story, he was swimming on the women's team, despite having taken steps toward transitioning to his true self. I thought he could write about the experience of being on a team that didn't align with his gender identity. But by the time he and I connected, he explained to me that he had left the women's team to compete with the men. |
Here was an elite athlete — one who described swimming as his joy, his job and his honor, who'd found purpose competing in the sport since he was 4 and had reached the Olympic trials at age 15 — who was willing to give up winning for something bigger and more important. |
In his guest essay today, he explains what that is. Being on the team where he knew he belonged mattered more to him than anything, including being a champion. In a played-out debate, Iszac offers a new perspective. |
He does something else that's novel for our times: He listens to the other side and then offers nuance. "I can understand," he writes, "why some people might worry about fairness or equality. But what seems to be missing from that conversation is our humanity." |
"It might not seem like such a big deal to swim on a team that doesn't align with your true self. But think about how overwhelming it would be to spend 20 hours a week in a place where you feel you don't belong. Eventually, for me, that reality made it hard to get out of bed to go to practice." |
I'm grateful to Iszac for expanding my own thinking about what's at stake, and I hope all sides give him a fair hearing. And who knows, maybe we can even start talking — actually talking — about this issue again. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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