Sports
Rejected by family, trans soccer player finds support from teammates
Reeves Gift overcomes homelessness, heads to USC to study filmmaking
Reeves Gift found himself homeless after coming out as trans to his parents. Now, he’s headed to film school at USC. (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)
Last fall, Reeves Gift was living a double life.
He was making great strides in his high school classes and on the soccer field at Chesapeake Math and IT Academy. At the same time, he was invaded by fear at the prospect of going home.
The girls on his soccer team knew he was transgender, but he had never talked to his parents about it. To make matters worse, he was named homecoming king at his school’s dance.
“I left for the dance in a pre-approved outfit and then changed into my homecoming king outfit,” says Gift. “I had a blast that night, but I was terrified that I would be caught. There would be consequences if my parents found out.”
Everything came to a head for Gift when he finally told his parents at the end of the year. The reaction was not good, and he did not feel safe in what he describes as an abusive situation. On Jan. 2, he left home and a case worker came and picked him up. He bounced around the DMV area until he found a place to stay so he could finish high school.
Through all of his struggles, he experienced acceptance and release through his sport of soccer. His teammates and coaches found out he was homeless and stepped forward with emotional support.
“I was surprised by the love that they showed me. It’s hard for me to process good things without being suspicious,” Gift says. “I was feeling deep emotions and deep worry. That all falls away when I am playing soccer. It’s important for me to be with people who want to work as a team.”
Gift played varsity soccer as a goalkeeper through all four years of high school. At his school, the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams ran the same practices and did drills together. Even though he wasn’t able to play on the boys’ team, it was a good experience to practice with them.
“It made me feel good to know that I was on par with the boys’ goalkeeper,” says Gift. “Both teams knew I was trans and I felt like one of the guys.”
His situation at home that once felt like a “dark cloud of terror” evolved through his final semester of high school. He turned 18, emancipated himself and obtained a protective order against his parents. While living on couches, he earned his high school diploma along with an associate degree through an early college program.
“I have my teammates, friends and case manager to thank for all of this,” Gift says. “It was really hard dedicating the time to school and soccer with everything going on and I was afraid I wouldn’t graduate.”
Coming up for Gift is one final summer in the D.C. area. He will play soccer as a goalie with the LGBT-based Summer of Freedom Soccer League, which is hosted by the Federal Triangles Soccer Club.
This fall, Gift will enter the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. With no money coming from his family, he had to get creative to come up with the funds for college.
He is using a combination of Pell Grants, gift aid, work study and a financial aid scholarship from USC. Locally, he received a Team DC sports scholarship and a Youth Leadership Award from SMYAL.
“It took a lot of reaching out to people, marketing myself and relying on the LGBT community,” says Gift. “I am hoping my journey gives me the tools and resources to help other kids in my situation. I picked film school because I want to influence the world and change the way the world thinks.”
He says that this summer he wants to focus on healing, getting to know himself and finding closure before he heads off to college. Leaving that feeling of terror behind is important for him to move forward. Sports at USC will be on his own terms and he hopes it includes rugby.
“I want to learn, be curious and explore while being in a safe space,” Gift says. “I want to temper that with compassion even if it is impossible. Everyone’s path is different, and it is my time to rise up.”
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
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