Bloomington family fights for transgender daughter amid bill banning her from girls’ sports

Kirin Clawson poses Wednesday in front of family pictures in her home.

Around the time Kirin Clawson turned 2, she began refusing to leave the house if she wasn’t wearing a tutu. She would throw a tantrum if she was only wearing her boy clothes.

When her parents, Beth and Nathaniel Clawson, saw that she felt more herself in girl clothes, they went out and bought her a pair of “Frozen”-themed shoes from Smith’s Shoe Center that she never took off.

By the time she was 3, Kirin was living as her true self. She started transitioning in preschool, which involves using correct pronouns and buying clothes she feels comfortable in.

Now, she’s a 9-year-old transgender girl in third grade at Childs Elementary School. She’s outspoken, precocious and funny, and she does roller derby, plays volleyball and is a heck of a swimmer, Beth said.

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Kirin has always been accepted by her classmates and family. But the Indiana Legislature continually attempts to pass laws that tell her she doesn’t belong.

What’s in House Bill 1041?

The Indiana House passed a bill, HB 1041, last week banning transgender girls from playing sports in elementary, middle and high schools. It passed 66-30 and is now in the hands of the state Senate.

The bill’s author, state Rep. Michelle DavisR-Whiteland, said the bill is about ensuring girls’ athletics remain fair, as transgender girls could have a physiological advantage over cisgender girls.

the Indiana High School Athletic Association already has a policy that requires transgender girls who want to play sports to show they’ve undergone hormone treatment for at least a year and that their muscle mass or bone density is in line with other girls their age.

The bill has been adamantly opposed by the ACLUwhich has said it will fight the bill in court if it is signed into law, as well as members of the LGBTQ community and parents of trans children.

Kirin Clawson poses with her parents Beth Clawson, left, and Nathaniel Clawson, right, in their home Wednesday.

Nathaniel, who tested at the Statehouse last week, is one of them.

He spoke about Kirin and how she won’t go through a testosterone-rich puberty. How her peers have seen her as a girl for as long as they’ve known her. How she’s only ever seen herself as a girl.

“There are so many life lessons that kids learn through sports, and they build stronger friendships with their peers,” he said. “It’s those life lessons that I was worried most about my daughter missing out on.”

Standing up for herself

As Kirin’s gotten older, she’s learned to stand up for herself and take up the space she deserves, Beth said. But earlier in her daughter’s life, Beth was hesitant to put her in sports with other girls in fear of what they might say to her.

“I discouraged her interest in things, specifically in swimming and gymnastics, because it’s leotards and swimsuits,” she said. “Of course, we as a family now know that gender has nothing to do with body parts, but a lot of the world doesn’t understand that.”

Beth said she understands all kids should get the opportunity to compete in fair competitions, but banning transgender girls from participating in girls’ athletics would cause much greater issues.

“My daughter’s mental health and wellness is far more important than your child’s medal or record,” she said.

In 2020, 52% of transgender and nonbinary people in the US are seriously contemplating killing themselves, according to an annual survey from the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit focusing on suicide prevention in LGBTQ youth. The survey is based on the experiences of nearly 35,000 LGBTQ people aged 13 to 24 across the country.

Bloomington, specifically Childs Elementary, has always been accepting, Beth and Nathaniel agreed. The day after Nathaniel testified at the Statehouse, Kirin’s teacher allowed her to carry her transgender pride flag all day and give a presentation to her classmates about what it means to be transgender. Every year, Kirin comes out to her class — mostly the same students she’s been with since kindergarten — because she feels she needs to and is comfortable doing so.

At the State House: Indiana lawmakers move forward with bill banning transgender girls from girls sports

Some proponents of anti-trans legislation have argued kids can’t develop gender identity at such a young age and that parents of transgender children are mutilating them. If those people were able to see Kirin and how happy she is in her body, Beth said, they might not feel the same.

Developing an identity

When Kirin was young, Beth and Nathaniel started requesting letters from her pediatrician confirming that she is being cared for and not mistreated. They keep a binder of the letters, so that if social services or anyone else questions if Kirin is living with a safe home life, they have evidence.

And even if Kirin does decide one day that she isn’t transgender, Beth and Nathaniel won’t have any regrets.

“Our whole thought process is if she changes her mind, she’ll at least know that we accepted her and we love her,” Nathaniel said.

The Clawsons are involved with a local group called TASC, the Trans and Allies Support Community, through which they met Jeanne Smith, a longtime Bloomington resident. Smith and the Clawsons talk about once a week, Beth said.

Smith, 69, has known she was transgender since she was 5. She spent her life hiding her true identity until she was 55.

“I spent 50 years trying not to be trans until I realized that I had a soul,” she said.

Smith said if transgender girls are banned from playing girls’ sports — and if other legislation that is harmful to the transgender community becomes law — it would instill fear in transgender youth and could cause them to hide their identity like she did.

“The state of Indiana is doing nothing to help the trans person,” she said. “They’re putting them in the worst possible situation.”

At least half a dozen bills were filed at the beginning of Indiana’s 2022 legislative session that involve transgender people. Other bills included banning affirming medical care for minors, limiting which bathrooms transgender people could use and not allowing gender to be changed on a birth certificate. Although they’re less likely to pass, Nathaniel said, it still hurts to see those bills filed.

Beth, Nathaniel and Jeanne, who are all heavily involved in the local transgender community, said they don’t know of any other transgender girls in this area who are participating in sports right now.

As long as they have Kirin, though, they’re going to fight for her.

“We spend our days armored up,” Beth said. “A lot of people are saying, ‘We’re not denying your child because they can still play boys’ sports.’ But I’m like, you can’t tell them, ‘Be who you are, except when.’ You have to let our kids be who they are all the time.”

CORRECTION: The print version of this story in Sunday’s Herald-Times incorrectly stated that Kirin Clawson is taking hormones. She’s not.

Contact Herald-Times reporter Christine Stephenson at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Family fights HB 1041 banning transgender girls from girls’ sports

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