Changing the Game

Colorado Premiere
For young transgender athletes, the sport they love often turns into a minefield of controversy. Either decried as cheaters if they excel, or barred from competing among the gender they identify with, positive outcomes are rare. But when a sport is a lifeline, what is fair? This exceptional film mines that question through intimate portraits of three trans athletes. Mack isn’t allowed to wrestle boys in his home state of Texas — leaving him to demolish the competition as he wrestles girls. Sarah nordic skis in New Hampshire with the girls she identifies with, but admits that she holds herself back. And Andraya runs track with girls in Connecticut — but has to fend off brutal criticism when she prevails. For these athletes, media attention and ugly remarks (mostly by adults) only fuel the fire of confusion that is teenagehood. As Mack puts it so poignantly, “It feels like I’m winning but feels like I’m also losing at the same time.”