So when my softball team lost in the semifinals of the Minnesota state tournament, I surprised even myself.
asserted
I → lose → myself
I sobbed to my parents and family.
asserted
I → sob → parents
I was devastated, confused, and hurt.
asserted
I → devastate → ?
I was a senior, and my biggest goal was to make the state tournament and play alongside my younger sister.
asserted
goal → make → sister
We made it.
asserted
We → make → it
We battled through the tournament as underdogs.
asserted
We → battle → underdogs
And then our season ended because the opposing team was allowed to put a boy in as the pitcher on a girls' team.
asserted
team → end → team
His team went on to win the girls' high school state championship.
asserted
team → go → championship
I wasn't crying because we had simply lost a softball game.
asserted
we → cry → game
I was crying because I couldn't understand how the adults who were supposed to protect girls like me had allowed this to happen.
asserted
this → cry → me
I later learned that his parents had changed his legal documents to reflect the opposite sex when he was a young boy.
asserted
he → learn → sex
What shocked me even more was the realization that the adults around us—administrators, policymakers and legislators—had allowed it and left girls like me tossed aside, hurt and abandoned.
asserted
adults → shock → me
We were expected to accept it, play through it and remain quiet.
asserted
We → expect → it
But the consequences didn't stop with my team.
asserted
consequences → stop → team
When a male athlete advances through a girls' state tournament, every girl who might have faced that team is affected.
uncertain
who → advance → team
Every roster spot, inning, championship, award and recruiting opportunity matters.
asserted
spot → matter → ?
At the elite level, one tournament can change a player's future.
asserted
tournament → change → future
The impact extends across girls' teams throughout an entire state.
asserted
impact → extend → state
After our loss, I decided I wasn't going to stay quiet.
asserted
I → decide → loss
I never imagined that decision, or that loss on a softball field in Minnesota, would eventually bring me to Washington, D.C.
asserted
decision → imagine → Washington
On Wednesday, I spoke at a press conference on Capitol Hill following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on opportunity, fairness and safety for female athletes.
asserted
I → speak → athletes
Getting to this point has not been easy.
asserted
Getting → get → point
My decision to openly share my experience has come at a price.
asserted
decision → share → price
I was recruited to play Division I softball at Western Michigan University.
asserted
I → recruit → University
I entered college hoping to find my voice and pursue my dreams as a student-athlete.
asserted
I → enter → athlete
Instead, I felt isolated and shamed for speaking publicly about what I had experienced.
asserted
I → feel → what
I was even directed not to identify my university to the media.
asserted
I → direct → media
The message was clear: Keep quiet.
asserted
message → keep → ?
I believed then, and still believe now, that girls should not have to surrender roster spots, playing time or championships to boys because some adults have decided that the feelings of boys mean more than the feelings and opportunities of girls.
asserted
feelings → believe → girls
In an introductory sociology class, I was assigned a paper explaining the difference between sex and gender.
asserted
I → assign → sex
I received a zero.
asserted
I → receive → zero
My professor told me to "remove any bias and dive deeper into the difference between the two."
asserted
professor → tell → two
She was telling me I was wrong to treat sex and gender as synonyms and that a person could identify as another gender by adopting stereotypes associated with the opposite sex.
uncertain
person → tell → sex
Yeah, I know.
asserted
I → know → ?
I felt like I was being asked to erase my own perspective and accept something I believed was untrue as fact.
asserted
I → feel → fact
I won't accept that women can be defined by sexist stereotypes.
asserted
women → accept → stereotypes
I had lived it.
asserted
I → live → it
The lack of support from my coaches and the pressure in my coursework led me to transfer after my freshman season.
asserted
lack → lead → season
Today, I play softball at Colorado Christian University.
asserted
I → play → University
I feel supported, encouraged to speak out and, most importantly, unashamed to tell the truth about what happened to me.
asserted
what → feel → me
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
