It doesn’t take a magician to figure out that a lot of struggle is behind Mack Beggs, transgender teen who just won the state title in girls wrestling.

Recently outspoken tv personality Joe Rogan weighed in on the strange occurrence that has the transgender teen transitioning into a male compete in the female division.

Rogan was quoted saying:

“People lose minds about anything gender related, but this is a biological female taking steroids competing against girls.”

And also

“It’s about fairness and safety in competition. There’s a reason why 99% of people are outraged and it’s not because they’re bigots.

For the record I think it’s absolutely fair for this girl transitioning to a boy to wrestle boys as there’s no unfair advantage there.

Wrestling is a combat sport and taking testosterone competing against girls who aren’t taking it is completely unfair and dangerous.

To tolerate a biological girl taking testosterone and competing against girls who aren’t is completely insane.”

But Beggs has his own point of view as expressed to sportsdaily section of the Dallas news. Faced with the issue of wrestling girls or not wrestling at all he chose to compete. Citing training as the reason behind his 57-0 record. When discussing bodily changes Beggs says testosterone has deepened his voice in addition to adding on leg and facial hair but otherwise fairly little has changed in terms of his body:

“I mean, I’ve been winning before when I didn’t have testosterone, but now that, you know, I’m actually winning, people want to go crazy,” he said.

“Like that kind of makes me feel like they don’t care about my training or the work that I put in. Because I’ve been to [the state championship] twice. And it’s not like I’m just doing this because I want to like call myself a boy and just dominate all these girls. What do I get out of that? I don’t get anything out of that.”

“This is a bigger, more complex situation,” Beggs said. “There’s so many variables. People just don’t understand that.”

“This is nuts,” he said at one point.

He also expressed excitement at having a chance to represent the wrestling and the LGBT community. He wants to help those who find themselves in a similar situation he was in, those who’ve felt like a lost cause, those still searching for who they are.

Beggs is at peace now with who he is. Gender is just a part of that.

“My masculinity doesn’t define who I am,” Beggs said. “I define who I am.”

 

Beggs told ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Wednesday: “[Texas policymakers] should change the laws and then watch me wrestle the boys. Because I’m a guy. It just makes more sense.”

Beggs also had to deal with people calling him an It and a fa**ot:

“Honestly, I was like, ‘You know what? Boo all you want, because you’re just hating. You hating ain’t going to get me and you nowhere, and I’m just going to keep on doing what I’ve got to do.’ That’s why I’ve always had that mentality. If you’re going to be negative, you know, whatever, that’s not going to faze me.”