Texan ABC-8 WBAA sportscaster Dale Hansen voiced support for the trans community—specifically Mack Beggs, the trans boy who just won the girls' state title in wrestling—in a sincere broadcast last week that we hope reaches its intended audience and does some of the work necessary to ensure that trans people enjoy the same rights as others.
In the speech, Hansen does a few key things:
He recognizes his privilege.
"The problems that Mack Beggs is facing and dealing with now remind me again that I don't have any problems," Dale said. "He needs our support, and he does not need a group of old men in Austin telling him who to wrestle because of a genetic mix-up at birth."
He humanizes trans people, which unfortunately is a tough concept for some.
"You don't have to understand—I myself don't understand. But Mack Beggs is not the problem so many people make him out to be. He's a child simply looking for his place in the world, and a chance to compete in the world."
He admits that he doesn't know the answer, which is okay.
"The question is, 'When does a girl become a boy, and when does a boy become a girl?' or 'When can you play games against those you identify with and not what a piece of paper says you are?'
That answer is way above my pay grade. But someone has to find a better answer than what we're being given now."
We're proud of Dale, and we hope sports communities and others who are less aware of transgender lives rally behind him in order to start a more meaningful dialogue. Watch the full video below.
