Meet Rebekah, a Trans 14-Year-Old Who Just Wants to Play Sports

Today the HRC has released a three-minute video highlighting Rebekah, a 14-year-old trans girl who just wants to play sports with her friends.

The video is being released to bring attention to the extreme number of anti-trans bills currently being considered across the country, and specifically the bills that seek to ban trans girls from playing school sports.

As of March 12, there had been 82 anti-trans bills introduced at the state level this year. According to the HRC, there are a total of over 200 anti-LGBTQ bills currently under consideration, and over 100 of them directly target trans people. More than 50 bills across 30 states specifically seek to ban girls like Rebekah from playing sports with other girls.

The truth is, this is who Republicans are targeting with their anti-trans bills, children like Rebekah. It's not criminals, or sexual predators, or even adults. It's children who want to be able to have fun and play with others their same age. "Sports are something that I really like doing," Rebekah says in the video. "I'm so much more than trans. That doesn't make me less of a girl, doesn't make me less of a human, either. I'm just me!"

The video shows Rebekah playing field hockey with her friends, interspersed with footage of her and her mom talking. "I've been playing field hockey for four years now," she smiles, "the concept is so fun because like, you get to have a stick and you get to hit a ball with it."

Rebekah has no advantages in the sport because she is trans, in fact, her mother points out that one of the reasons she likes sports so much is because it's something she has to try hard at. "Rebekah's really good at a lot of things, Jamie, Rebekah's mom says in the video. "She aces her schoolwork with very little effort. She's great in music and theater. She doesn't have to try really hard. And so sports are this place where she does have to work hard. She learns a lot from not being the best, and from really having to commit to get better at something."

More than that, sports give her an opportunity to make friends. "I also really love the people I'm always surrounded with and the community that I create," she said. "It's such a tight-knit group."

The video shows her arm in arm and hugging her friends, who are also regular girls like her. "When we're on the field, my teammates, they just see me as me," Rebekah says. "They see me as a teammate who they're going to play with, who they're going to win with, who they're going to lose with, and just someone who they will work with together."

The video ends with a message, asking people to text PROTECT to 472-472 to tell lawmakers to take action to protect trans kids like Rebekah. Watch the video below.