A high school volleyball player who was injured by a transgender opponent has spoken out to accuse the Biden administration of ‘hypocrisy’ for calling opposition to trans athletes in girls’ sports dangerous.
Payton McNabb of Cherokee County, North Carolina has previously said that she suffered a concussion and neck injury in November 2022 after a transgender opponent spiked a ball that hit her in the face.
On Friday McNabb appeared on Fox News and responded to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who was asked at a press conference earlier this week about parents who have concerns about trans athletes in school sports.
Jean-Pierre responded: ‘What you’re alluding to is basically saying that transgender kids are dangerous…That is a dangerous thing to say, that essentially transgender kids, we’re talking about, are dangerous.’
McNabb responded in the Fox News interview: ‘She’s taken what others have said about how this is dangerous for us, and she’s essentially switched it around and played the victim from the situation, which I expect nothing less from that whole administration.’
Payton McNabb appeared on Fox News and responded to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
Jean-Pierre ‘That is a dangerous thing to say that essentially transgender kids, we’re talking about, are dangerous,’
McNabb has previously called for legal restrictions on transgender athletes in female sports, including in testimony in North Carolina’s state legislature in April.
Accompanied by swimmer and activist Riley Gaines, McNabb spoke in favor of HB 574 – the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which would effectively prohibit biological male transgender athletes from participating in high school athletics designated for females.
McNabb told the hearing: ‘Allowing biological males to compete against biological females is dangerous.’
‘I may be the first to come before you with an injury, but if this doesn’t pass, I won’t be the last.’
Versions of the North Carolina bill have passed in the state’s House and Senate, with the main difference being whether the ban applies to colleges, and negotiations are underway to pass a unified version.
But to pass the measure into law, lawmakers will likely have to overcome a veto from Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who has spoken out in opposition to the bill.
At least 20 other states have imposed similar limits on transgender athletes at the K-12 or collegiate level.
However, the Biden administration is attempting to amend Title IX, the law that protects women’s sports, to allow athletes to compete on either men’s or women’s teams consistent with their gender identity.
McNabb is seen, left, lying on the floor having been knocked unconscious
In April, Gaines tweeted footage of McNabb’s incident, which happened on November 1, 2022, during a Hiwassee High School volleyball game against Highlands High School.
A transgender rival from Highlands High School hit the ball, which knocked McNabb unconscious.
‘I was severely injured in a high school volleyball game by a transgender athlete on the opposing team,’ McNabb said on Tuesday.
‘I suffered from a concussion and neck injury that to this day I am still recovering from.
‘Other injuries I still suffer from today include impaired vision, partial paralysis on my right side, constant headaches, as well as anxiety and depression.
‘I was unable to play the rest of my last volleyball season, and although I am currently playing softball I know I am not performing as well as I have in the past, because of my injury.’
She said her academic performance has been harmed, and she now needs ‘accommodations at school for testing’.
She said she was not able to ‘learn, retain, comprehend’ as before.
‘I could go on and on about how this has affected my life,’ McNabb said.
‘But I’m not here for that. I’m not here for me.
‘Because for me, I know that my time playing is coming to an end.
‘I am here for every biological female athlete behind me.’
McNabb referenced a North Carolina law which forbids discrimination and says that everyone should be allowed to compete fairly on a level playing field.
‘My ability to compete was taken from me,’ McNabb said.
‘Having to compete against biological males is not a level playing field.’
The bill, which looks likely to pass, would prevent biological female athletes from being forced to compete against biological male transgender athletes in school sports designated for females.
It would not prevent transgender athletes from participating on teams that are co-ed or designated for their biological sex at birth.
McNabb (left) is seen with swimmer Riley Gaines (right) and Rep. Jennifer Balkcom (center), a Henderson County Republican and one of HB 574’s primary sponsors
So far this year 20 states have passed legislation protecting the rights of female athletes from facing what supporters say is an unfair competitive advantage from biologically male transgender athletes.
Opponents of the bill from the activist group Equality NC addressed Tuesday’s hearing and urged the politicians to reject the bill saying that it prevents transgender athletes from competing.
They warned that activist outcry, similar to the state’s HB 2 ‘bathroom bill,’ could ensue.
North Carolina was at the forefront of the transgender bathroom battle in March 2016.
A massive nationwide backlash ensued, with Adidas, PayPal, Deutsche Bank and other corporations reconsidering their planned expansion in North Carolina, and TV and movie studios changing their minds about shooting in the state.
Musicians Nick Jonas, Bruce Springsteen and Demi Lovato announced boycotts, while other performers, including Selena Gomez, Mumford and Sons, donated a portion of local ticket sales to LGBTQ organizations.
The sports world responded, as well: The NBA moved the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte to New Orleans, and the NCAA relocated March Madness basketball championship rounds outside the state.
A 2017 analysis by The Associated Press predicted North Carolina would lose more than $3.76 billion and nearly 3,000 jobs over the next dozen years as a direct result of HB 2.
