8-year-old Houston girl testifies against TX transgender bill: ‘I think they’re just scared of us’

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A bill restricting transgender student-athlete participation has passed the Texas House and Senate and is now heading to Governor Greg Abbott.

Gov. Abbott is expected to sign the bill, which requires athletes to play on sports teams that align with the genders listed on their birth certificates.

Proponents say it will protect girls from having to compete with strong and bigger athletes. But transgender athletes say it unfairly targets them.

Sunny Bryant said she’s known who she is since she was four.

“I am a girl,” the 8-year-old said.

“This is not pretend. It’s not a phase. It’s real. There’s a difference between saying, ‘I want to be a girl,’ and ‘I am a girl,’ and that was made very clear by her,” Sunny’s mother, Bekah explained.

Sunny’s family has been supportive, and most of her young friends don’t ask much. They’ve always played sports like baseball and gymnastics together.

But, when the Texas legislature began debating a bill that would make it so that Sunny will only be able to play on boys’ sports teams, she and her mother went to Austin.

They both testified.

“It was kind of emotional and I was really nervous,” Sunny explained.

“It’s a solution in search of a problem. We haven’t had any lawsuits in the state of Texas. We haven’t had any cases. The population of trans kids is so small,” Bekah said. “That means she’d be the only girl in the locker room, the only girl on the team. And she won’t have that community.”

“What is in my heart is that I think I should be able to play sport, because I’m a girl, too,” Sunny said. “I think they’re just scared of us and they need more trans people in their life.”