MPR’s Laura Yuen talks with Christina Ginther on why she is suing the Minnesota Vixen for discriminating her for being transgender. The Minnesota Vixen deny Christina entry onto the team due to her being assigned male at birth. She is suing the team now stating that they violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination against contractors on the basis of sexual orientation.
SPEAKER: The question of whether transgender athletes have a competitive edge in sports has been debated at the Olympics, in high schools, and now in Minnesota Women's Football. A transgender woman from Saint Paul says she was told she couldn't play with a semi-professional tackle football team because she was born male. Now she's suing the team for discrimination. Laura Yuen has more on the story.
LAURA YUEN: Christina Ginther says all she wanted to do was make new friends and find a sport where she belonged. She had never played football before. When she tried out for the Minnesota Vixen Women's Football Team last fall, she was trying to rebuild her life. About two years earlier, she had begun her transition from male to female and in the process watched her marriage and several friendships dissolve.
CHRISTINA GINTHER: Even close friends that I had who initially said that, hey, we'll support you, disappeared. And so I'm now like, where do I fit in the world? Who are my people?
LAURA YUEN: Ginther, who's 44, says she didn't think being transgender would be a problem for the Vixen. After all, she learned about the team at the Twin Cities Pride Festival.
CHRISTINA GINTHER: This is an LGBTQ-friendly organization. Cool.
LAURA YUEN: But after her tryouts, Ginther says she got a phone call from the team's owner, Laura Brown.
CHRISTINA GINTHER: And she said, well, your numbers were good. But in the process of drying up player contracts, we looked at your social media, and we found that you're transgender.
LAURA YUEN: Ginther recalls Brown telling her the league didn't allow players who were born biologically male because of safety issues.
CHRISTINA GINTHER: I hung up the phone, and I'm like, just felt violated. I mean, just the sense of-- I'm a freak, I'm defective, I am not worthy to be with this team.
LAURA YUEN: The Vixen is considered a semi-pro team. It doesn't pay its players. In fact, the players pay to play. Ginther alleges the team violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination against contractors on the basis of sexual orientation. But the attorney representing the team says the Vixen was bound by the rules of the Independent Women's Football League or the IWFL, which the Vixen was a part of at the time. Attorney Greg Van Gompel says the league has a clear policy.
GREG VAN GOMPEL: It says a player may not play in the IWFL unless they are now, and always have been, legally and medically a female.
LAURA YUEN: Cristina Ginther is nearly 6 feet tall and carries a slightly muscular frame, but she says she was on testosterone blockers until her gender reassignment surgery last summer. And she's been taking estrogen for more than two years. She says today, her testosterone levels, which give her strength and stamina, are close to zero. That's far less than the levels of someone born biologically female. So do transgender women have an advantage over other women in sports?
GREG VAN GOMPEL: Well, yes. Yes, of course, transgender women have advantages-- disadvantages, too.
LAURA YUEN: Joanna Harper is a medical physicist in Oregon, who's advised the International Olympic Committee which has much looser policies on transgender athletes.
JOANNA HARPER: If we're talking advantages, transgender women are, on average, taller, larger. Should they be in a separate category? is certainly a more pertinent question. And I think the available research says probably not.
LAURA YUEN: But let's get back to Christina Ginther. She was denied a spot on the Vixen, but shortly after found acceptance on another team, the Minnesota Machine, which is part of a different women's football league. At a recent indoor practice, a veteran player, Sofia Ramirez, says she has no concerns about safety when she plays with Christina Ginther.
SOFIA RAMIREZ: Christina is a beast. She's strong and fast, but I know some women who are faster than her and stronger than her.
LAURA YUEN: During one drill, Ginther rolls her ankle while going for the ball. A former marathon runner, Ginther says she's weaker now and more prone to injury. Still, she says joining this team makes her feel like she's finally found her people.
CHRISTINA GINTHER: Well, we call ourselves machine parts. I'm just one part of the machine, and my contributions help, along with everyone else's.
LAURA YUEN: And in a weird twist, the Minnesota Vixen, the team that barred her from playing, has since joined the same league that her current team plays in. That means Ginther will get to square off with the Vixen not only in the courts but on the field. Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio News, Saint Paul.
SPEAKER: And you can see more on this story. Go to our website mprnews.org.
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