Dear Trans Athletes
- Campbell Burke
- May 2
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 29
I just recently read Katie Barnes’s book Fair Play about the struggles of trans athletes (mainly in the United States). I finished it with a sense of optimism & hope. Which is hard to say in this political climate, but I remain determined not to fall into total doomsday mode (it is totally ok if you do though). Then I saw the news of England’s FA decision to ban Trans women from competing on women’s teams, and my heart shattered. I was in London for the last week, I went to a Chelsea game and had an amazing time, and they play in the FA Cup final soon. I was blissfully unaware of what was to come just a few days later. I was infuriated. I (as did many others) posted on my BlueSky account about it. I lovingly told the FA they were lucky I was leaving England that afternoon. Then a lovely faceless account came into my mentions. Someone who was so openly transphobic they literally had “Terf” in their bio ??? That’s just so bold and they have since been blocked and reported (their tag is coco999.bsky.social if you’d like to do the same). That really got me thinking, so I wrote this poem.
Dear Trans Athletes - by Campbell Burke
Dear Trans athletes, I see you.
Your existence doesn’t scare me.
Your success doesn’t anger me.
Dear Trans athletes, we failed you.
You have fought so hard.
You have sacrificed so much.
Dear Trans athletes, I value you.
You are meant to be compete.
You are meant to thrive.
Dear Trans athletes, we won’t give up.
You are not alone.
You are not forgotten.
Dear Trans athletes, I’m proud of you
You deserve this.
You earned this.
Dear Trans athletes, I love you.
Dear Trans athletes, you belong.
I am far from perfect in my advocacy and I am still learning. I cannot promise you perfection, or that I will understand and know everything. However, I can promise you that I will try & I will learn. And I will never let you question where I stand: Trans athletes belong in sports & all Trans people deserve to live out loud & proud.
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