Tamron Hall interviews transgender wrestler Mack Beggs, ending two years of solitude
Transgender wrestler Mack Beggs graduated from Euless Trinity High School and traveled in 2018 to Life University in Marietta, Georgia, where he would be allowed to wrestle with men.
Beggs’ relocation allowed him to step away from the spotlight that he was thrust into when he was only allowed to wrestle girls in Texas while he was transitioning from female to male.
Beggs will step back into that spotlight when he walks onto the stage of Tamron Hall’s syndicated talk show on Friday.
“I kind of just hid in the dark for a little while and there were some things that happened in my personal life,” Beggs said. “I took a step back and focused on my academics. But now I’m becoming more socially active.”
UIL rules state that participants must compete against the gender that appears on their birth certificate. Beggs was identified as a girl at birth and was not allowed to compete against the boys, despite identifying as a male.
Beggs ended his high school wrestling career as an undefeated champion against girls and competed against men in the Team Texas junior division of the USA Wrestling Greco-Roman and Freestyle divisions, winning third place in both styles.
Then Beggs obtained “top-surgery,” completing the conversion to a more male-like chest contour. Beggs then walked onto Life University’s wrestling team as a medical redshirt, who was recovering from surgery and from the media microscope that he had lived under for the past two years.
Beggs, now a sophomore in college, says he has recovered sufficiently to venture back into the fray.
On Jan. 4, 2019, Beggs got a Dallas court to reissue his birth certificate with the declaration that his sex was male. Beggs said it was always his wish to wrestle with boys, but Texas rules stopped him from doing that.
Beggs’ matches and championship presentations were peppered with boos from the crowd and worse things that felt like hate from people he never knew. Beggs’ matches also seemed to be back-grounded by a stew of politics and bathroom bills, constant cameras and outrage.
“My story gave me a platform,” Beggs said. “A couple of years ago, I didn’t want to be a trans wrestler — I just wanted to be an athlete. But since everything that has happened to me, I’ve learned to use my experience to educate people and keep other people from having to go through what I’ve had to go through.”
Beggs said he has ended his solitude and being on the show with Hall will mark a high-point in his return to activism.
“I’m super excited about it,” Beggs said of the interview. “It’s a great opportunity for me personally.”
Angela Hale, a spokeswoman for Equality Texas, an advocacy group trying to advance the inclusion of LGBTQ people in all areas, says the political atmosphere has become more toxic in the past two years, from more news about transgender people becoming murder victims to news about lawmakers authoring more legislation harmful to the LGBTQ community.
The LGBTQ community needs state and federal laws that will protect them and people to advocate for those laws, she said.
“We’re talking about the private lives of people who often do not want to be thrust into the public spotlight,” Hale said. “Parents across Texas have had to step into the spotlight so these terrible ideas don’t get more traction. A child should not be outed in school by elected officials because he or she is gay. That’s why we need laws that will protect everyone.”
Beggs, who is taking a break from wrestling right now, says he is seriously ready to thrust himself back into the game of directing public opinion.
“Trans athletes are human,” Beggs said. “We want to be in sports and we want inclusion. We need to get more people aware and more people need to know that these policies affect everyone.”
Tamron Hall grew up in Fort Worth, and was a former NBC news anchor. Her show airs locally on CBS affiliate KTVT/Channel 11 at 2 p.m. weekdays.
“I ran track in Texas for many years at Poly High School at Farrington Field and summer league track at Clark stadium with the NYLIC track club,” Hall said in a statement. “I get how sports strike a nerve. Mack’s story is an inspiration, and I am happy to share his journey with the ‘Tamron Hall’ family.”
This story includes information from Star-Telegram archives.
