Sports
Transgender Iraq vet competes in new arena
Ortega moves from the battlefield to pro bodybuilding
Sgt. Shane Ortega has served for more than 10 years in the military and is now an accomplished bodybuilder. (Photo courtesy ACLU)
When you first meet Sgt. Shane Ortega, the first things you notice are his muscles and tattoos. They are everywhere and it’s hard not to stare longer than the socially acceptable amount of time. Ortega is in D.C. for a series of briefings at the Pentagon and after multiple days of what he calls verbal ping-pong, he is ready to relax and do some sightseeing.
As he walks along the path next to the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, each person that approaches from the opposite direction takes stock of him as they pass by. The reason they are looking isn’t because he is a trans man, they are looking at him because he has presence.
That presence has served him well during the past six years of quietly advocating for LGBT policy in the military. It began with work on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and progressed into policy for transgender military service members. That advocacy has included meeting with civilians outside of the military chain of command such as politicians, the American Medical Association, SPARTA and the American Civil Liberties Union, among others.
“There is no road map for policy change,” Ortega says. “The timeline has accelerated since DADT and the people in power have refreshed. We are not the boogeyman anymore.”
Ortega just passed his 10-year anniversary in the armed forces and has been deployed twice to Iraq with the Marines as a woman and once to Afghanistan with the Army as a man. He is a Helicopter Flight Engineer in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division stationed at the Garrison base in Oahu, though elevated testosterone levels have relegated him to administrative work for the time being.
Throughout the course of this year, each of the military services has elevated its transgender separation policy outside of the military chain of command to third-party civilians. Just a few days after Ortega finished the last of his briefings, the Pentagon announced plans to lift the ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military. After working in obscurity for years, Ortega is now one of the faces of the trans military movement.
The second thing you notice about Ortega when you meet him is that he is a ball of energy and he really likes to talk. As he treks toward the war memorials on the National Mall, his stories jump from music to scuba diving to his tours of duty to his uncles, all at breakneck speed. He is well spoken, engaging and funny. When he stops to admire the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, he mentions that he loves to sculpt things with clay.
The man knows a thing or two about sculpting other things as well.
Two months ago in Honolulu, he participated in his first physique competition and placed fourth, which qualified him for a spot at junior nationals in March of 2016. Sports and weightlifting had been a part of his regimen for years but it wasn’t until his body started filling out from hormone therapy that he began to think about competing.
Ortega was born in Maryland and moved around a lot growing up, living on bases with his mom or with family members while she was deployed overseas. He began wrestling in elementary school and picked the sport up again in high school along with track and field and soccer. After enlisting in the Marines he played intramural soccer and rugby on the bases.
A constant pursuit from sophomore year of high school on was weightlifting.
His high school wrestling coach started him out with the physiology of working out, which advanced to benching for form and finally lifting for bodybuilding. His heroes were the superstars of the World Wrestling Federation.
“I grew up with posters of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage on my bedroom walls,” says Ortega. “I was into that good ‘ole American hero image.”
The weight training continued throughout his military career and escalated to a point where people were asking him if he was competing. After contacting the event organizers of National Physique Competition, Ikaika and the governing body to receive permission to enter the event, Ortega began serious training to compete in the men’s physique Class A.
Each morning started with physical training with his Army unit, the Hill Climbers, and included calisthenics and 15-25 miles of running per week. After work there were three to four sessions per week of weightlifting, two with a trainer. He says the hardest part of the preparation was starting the diet two months out from the competition and jumping to 300 grams of protein per day.
Shane Ortega (Photo by Kevin Majoros)
“I was really anxious the week before my competition. As the time came for me to compete, I realized how important it was for me as a trans man to compete at that level,” Ortega says. “Everyone was really nice and respectful at the event and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for my first competition. It was a huge self-confidence boost.”
Ortega’s overall goal for the competition was to finish in the top three and qualify for nationals. He will attempt to accomplish that in his second competition at the Paradise Cup in September. “I believe that you can be anything you want to be in this country,” says Ortega. “If you want to become an elite athlete, find your opportunity and pursue it.”
As the day of sightseeing in D.C. winds down, Ortega begins to explain some of the tattoos on his body. He says they all have meaning to him. There is a woman wearing a gas mask, a grenade, nautical stars, Hindu goddesses and an Army tank.
When asked why the tank, he gets a huge grin on his face and exclaims, “Dude, there is an Army tank on my arm. How cool is that?”
Just like Sgt. Shane Ortega, that is in fact, pretty cool.
Shane Ortega (Photo by Kevin Majoros)
Sports
English soccer bans transgender women from women’s teams
British Supreme Court last month ruled legal definition of woman limited to ‘biological women’
The organization that governs English soccer on Thursday announced it will no longer allow transgender women to play on women’s teams.
The British Supreme Court on April 16 ruled the legal definition of a woman is limited to “biological women” and does not include trans women. The Football Association’s announcement, which cites the ruling, notes its new policy will take effect on June 1.
“As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and FIFA,” said the Football Association in a statement that announced the policy change. “Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.”
“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary,” added the Football Association.
The Football Association also acknowledged the new policy “will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify.”
“We are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” it said.
The Football Association told the BBC there were “fewer than 30 transgender women registered among millions of amateur players” and there are “no registered transgender women in the professional game” in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Football Association, which governs soccer in Scotland, is expected to also ban trans women from women’s teams.
FIFA has announced Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, despite concerns over its human rights record that includes the death penalty for homosexuality.
The Associated Press reported FIFA confirmed the decision on Dec. 18. The AP noted Saudi Arabia is the only country that bid to host the 2034 World Cup.
“This is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia and a dream come true for all our 32 million people who simply love the game,” said Sport Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al- Faisal, who is also president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, in a statement the Saudi Press Agency posted to its website.
Saudi Arabia is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.
A U.S. intelligence report concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “likely approved” the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A federal judge in 2022 dismissed a lawsuit against Prince Mohammed after the Biden-Harris administration said he was immune to the lawsuit because he is the country’s prime minister.
Human rights activists have also criticized the Saudi government over the treatment of women, migrant workers, and other groups in the country.
“No one should be surprised by this,” Cyd Zeigler, Jr., co-founder of Outsports.com, an LGBTQ sports website, told the Washington Blade in an email after FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. “FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and many other world governing bodies routinely turn to authoritarian countries with terrible human-rights records to host major sporting events. There are simply few other countries willing to spend the billions of dollars it takes to build the needed infrastructure.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a statement described FIFA’s decision as “a betrayal of the values that football should stand for: Inclusivity, fairness, and respect for human rights.”
“This is not about football; it’s about sportswashing,” said Tatchell. “The Saudi regime is using the World Cup to launder its international image and distract from its brutal abuses. By granting them this platform, FIFA is complicit in whitewashing their crimes.”
Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia, hosted the 2022 World Cup.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Qatar.
“Saudi Arabia was the only country to bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup,” said Zeigler. “So, until FIFA, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and other governing bodies ban major human-rights violators from hosting, we’ll continue to see events like this in Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar, and other countries with terrible LGBTQ rights issues.”
The Blade has reached out to FIFA and the Saudi government for comment.
Sports
Controversy grows over member of Calif. university’s women’s volleyball team
Coach suspended, NCAA sued, more rivals forfeit
San Jose State University’s women volleyball team has collected yet another W by forfeit — its seventh so far this season — as controversy swirls around one player on its roster. She’s one of the seniors, and she has been dragged in the media by her own co-captain, who outed her as transgender.
The Washington Blade is not naming this student athlete since neither she nor the school have confirmed or even commented on her gender identity.
SJSU visited San Diego last weekend for a match before the Aztecs’ biggest home crowd of the season — including protesters waving “Save Women’s Sports” banners and booing one player on the Spartans team in particular: The woman who is reported to be trans.
Security was tight, with metal detectors and extra guards and police officers present. Video posted to YouTube by a right-wing sports media site — which names the player — shows an angry fan arguing with security about his First Amendment rights.
Video recorded during Nov. 9’s game shows a player for San Diego was injured following a spike by the player rumored to be trans, and had to be helped off the court. However, the video clearly shows that player was injured by landing poorly on one foot, not as a result of the spike.
The Aztecs defeated the Spartans 3-1, but San Jose has still punched its ticket to the conference finals, thanks to its record number of forfeits.
Wyoming was set to visit SJSU Thursday, but for the second time is joining other universities that have forfeited games against the Spartans, all without providing a reason. Boise State announced it will forfeit an upcoming match set for Nov. 21, its second forfeit against SJSU.
In September, the Spartans’ co-captain, senior Brooke Slusser, outed her own teammate, the player at the center of this controversy, in joining a federal lawsuit against the NCAA spearheaded by anti-trans inclusion activist and former college athlete Riley Gaines.
Slusser said in the lawsuit and in subsequent interviews that the player in question shouldn’t be on her team. The suit claims the NCAA’s policy on trans athletes violates Title IX by allowing “men” to compete in women’s sports and use women’s locker rooms where they display “full male genitalia.”
The NCAA policy for trans athletes participating in women’s volleyball aligns with that of USA Volleyball, which requires trans female athletes to suppress their testosterone below 10 nmol/L for a period of one year before competition. That is also how the NCAA determines eligibility. SJSU has stated repeatedly that all its players are eligible.
The lawsuit also asks the NCAA to revoke any titles or records won by trans female athletes in women’s competitions, which seems to be specifically aimed at stripping out trans NCAA champions Lia Thomas and CeCé Telfer of their titles in swimming and track and field, respectively.
Prior to this season, the player rumored to be trans did not attract any attention other than being a successful starter, like Slusser. But now that she is in the media spotlight, Slusser has come forward to tell right wing media, including Megyn Kelly, why she feels another woman two inches taller than she is poses a danger.
“I don’t feel safe,” Slusser said on “The Megyn Kelly Show” last month. “I’ve gone to my coaches and said I refuse to play against [her] … It’s not safe.”
In the video, both Kelly and Slusser refer to the player as “him” and a “man,” and name her.
Now comes another twist: San Jose State University suspended associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose with pay, indefinitely, after she filed a Title IX complaint against SJSU. She claims the player Slusser identified as trans conspired with an opponent to help the team lose a match and injure Slusser. Batie-Smoose named the player in question in her complaint and on Sept. 23, joined the same lawsuit that Slusser is now a part of.
“Safety is being taken away from women,” Batie-Smoose told Fox News. “Fair play is taken away from women. We need more and more people to do this and fight this fight because women’s sports, as we know it right now will be forever changed.”
Media reporting on the suspension, including Fox News, continue to name the athlete in question, with some also reporting what they say is the athlete’s birth name.
San Jose State released a statement following the suspension of Batie-Smoose: “The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter,” the team said.
SJSU Coach Todd Kress told ESPN that reports saying that any member of the Spartans colluded with their opponent are “littered with lies.”
The Spartans are currently among the top six finishers in the Mountain West Conference that will qualify to compete in the conference tournament scheduled for Nov. 27-30.
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