Hi, my name is Chris Mosier.
My whole life, I’ve loved sports. But growing up, I never saw people like me in school, on starting lines, or on television. I wish someone had shown me that it was possible to be exactly who you are—and still belong.
Years later, I became the first openly transgender athlete to represent the United States in international competitions. I became the first transgender athlete sponsored by Nike, the first to appear in ESPN’s Body Issue, and the first openly transgender man to compete in the Olympic Trials alongside other men.
None of that happened without a fight and without pushback.
In 2015, when I qualified for a world championship race, I was told I would not be allowed to compete because of archaic International Olympic Committee rules about transgender athletes. I challenged that policy—and after months of advocacy, the IOC updated its guidelines.
I learned something important through all these experiences: sports are often just the entry point.
The same arguments used to try to push trans athletes out of competition are now being used to restrict health care access, make schools less safe, and erase transgender people from public life. When politicians say this is “just about sports and fairness,” it rarely is.
Washington voters will face ballot measures that target transgender youth—measures that would weaken protections for students and ban trans girls from participating in school sports. These initiatives aren’t about fairness. They’re about exclusion and discrimination.
Every young person deserves the chance to feel safe at school. Every student deserves the opportunity to play, learn, grow, and belong. Policies rooted in fear don’t protect kids. They isolate them. There’s nothing fair about that.
My personal motto is: Be who you needed when you were younger. As an adult, I now have the opportunity to stand up for kids like me, to make sure they know they matter.
| Thank you, Chris Mosier |
NO HATE in WA State is a campaign of Washington parents, medical professionals, teachers, students, and community members standing against ballot measures IL26-001 and IL26-638 that would endanger Washington students and hurt our schools.
Reject the hate, bullying, and harassment of our students. Join us today.
NO HATE in WA State
PO Box 21961
Seattle, WA 98111
United States