Payton McNabb, a North Carolina high school volleyball player, is calling for a ban on transgender athletes after one spiked a ball into her face last fall allegedly causing a concussion and long-term physical and mental injuries.

The transgender athlete was able to compete on a girls’ team at Hiwassee Dam High School in Murphy, NC, because of a policy put in place by the state’s high school athletic association.

McNabb spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, calling on state legislators to pass the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, HB 574, that would ban biological males from competing on girls’ sports teams.

(Video Credit: Grassroots Army)

“Due to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association policy of allowing biological males to compete against biological females, my life has forever been changed,” McNabb stated.

“On Sept. 1, 2022, I was severely injured in a high school volleyball game by a transgender athlete on the opposing team. I suffered from a concussion and a 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,” she continued.

Due to the injury, McNabb, who is a senior, was unable to compete in her final season. She currently plays on her school’s softball team but asserts it is in a diminished capacity and that she’s unable to “perform as well as I have in the past,” due to her injuries.

“My ability to learn, retain, [and] comprehend has also been impaired, and I require accommodations at school for testing because of this,” she commented.

Watch the clip of Payton McNabb getting spiked in the face by a male competing with the women. Then watch her testimony she gave today for the first time publicly. I was honored to stand alongside her in NC to continue the fight to protect women's sports. pic.twitter.com/mvJmwprkaX

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 20, 2023

Although McNabb acknowledges her athletic career is almost over, she is now picking up the torch with swimmer Riley Gaines and will speak out on the incident to help others and move for a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports. She won’t be the last one either as this movement picks up momentum. Gaines stood with McNabb during the press conference.

“I’m here for every biological female athlete behind me. My little sister, my cousins, my teammates. 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,” McNabb said, referencing the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.

Yesterday we were on hand to support female athletes Riley Gaines and Payton McNabb as they advocated to protect girls' and womens' sports in the #ncga pic.twitter.com/ScqZqkPZvc

— Sloan Rachmuth (@SloanRachmuth) April 20, 2023

https://twitter.com/LauraLauram7/status/1648823836467503104

The bill was passed on Wednesday by lawmakers in North Carolina, according to Fox News. It bars biological men from playing on girls’ sports teams in middle school through college.

“My ability to compete was taken from me. Having to play against biological males is not a level playing field and it is most definitely not safe,” McNabb contended.

“This bill is a bill to be inclusive, not to be exclusive,” GOP Rep. Kristin Baker, the bill’s primary sponsor, proclaimed, according to the New York Post. “This bill is to allow fair and particularly safe, physically safe, competition.”

Opponents of the bill from the activist group Equality NC addressed the hearing and urged the politicians to reject the bill saying that it prevents transgender athletes from competing.

At least 20 other states have imposed similar restrictions on transgender athletes at the K-12 or collegiate level. The House of Representatives also passed a bill on Thursday that prohibits federally supported schools and colleges from allowing any athlete whose biological sex assigned at birth was male from competing on girls’ or women’s sports teams.

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