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You are here: Home / LBGTQ / #LGBTQ: Schuyler Bailar Is the First Trans Athlete to Swim for Harvard

#LGBTQ: Schuyler Bailar Is the First Trans Athlete to Swim for Harvard

By Trey Speegle on April 12, 2016 4:01 am

Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 6.36.26 AM

Schuyler with Lesley Stahl from 60 Minutes

Schuyler with Lesley Stahl from 60 Minutes

I watched a 60 Minutes report on Sunday night on Schuyler Bailar, the female to male transgenger swimmer. Maybe you did too. He made headlines over the summer when he joined the men’s swimming team at Harvard after initially being recruited for the women’s team. After taking a year off and coming out to his family, friends, and coach, Bailar planned to live as a man without taking hormones, so he could still compete on the women’s team per NCAA rules. But Harvard told him he’d be welcome on the men’s team, and Bailar had a choice to make.

He chose to be on the men’s team and he’s believed to be the first out trans athlete to compete in an NCAA Division I men’s sport. And the first trans swimmer. In the 60 Minutes interview, Bailar talked about his first season,

He had to make some adjustments, including getting used to wearing the men’s swimsuit with his double-mastectomy scars exposed, as well as not winning the way he had been on the women’s team

“My goal to myself β€” because it’s not realistic for me to win anything right now, at all β€” is to try to beat at least one person in every race.“

In his first eight races, he’s achieved that goal all but once. Still he says it’s sometimes hard to look at the women’s scoreboard.

“I know I made the right decision. But I think sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh, I really wish I could β€” I could compete as a girl. Because I want to win that race.’ It’s fun to win, and it’s something that I worked really hard for. And, you know, I work the same amount. But now I’m working the same amount for 16th place, you know?

It’s the way it is. And it’s also a lot of fun. It has other kinds of glory in it … It’s a glory that, like, fills me inside.”

It’s an amazing story. You can watch the 60 Minutes piece here and you can follow Schuyler on Instagram where he interacts with his fans and the uninformed answering questions about his transition.

So humbled by this release and all the responses. Overwhelmed with love & support; feeling so incredibly blessed to have all of these wonderful friends, family, teammates, teachers, and coaches in my life. I don’t know how to thank you all enough — just know that this love is the kind of love that saves lives. Thank you to each and everyone of you who took the time to watch or to comment. Your words and thoughts have not gone unnoticed. I will get back to all of your DMs and Kiks and emails in the next few days hopefully. But do not fear, I will respond. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! πŸ’•πŸ’• Also if you didn’t get a chance to watch but want to, Google my name + CBS, go to CBS’s site and you can find me there, or click the link in my bio! 😊❀️

A photo posted by Schuyler Bailar (@pinkmantaray) on Apr 11, 2016 at 8:36pm PDT

Please read!! Okay so looks are everything right? Wrong. I’m posting four of me not because I’m egotistical but because I want y’all to see the differences from lighting, angles, proximity to the camera, ways of posing/flexing or not flexing… These can all drastically change what a person looks like but it doesn’t change anything about the person! I have the same amount of muscle, brain, fat, etc in all of these. They’re completely unedited and taken within the seconds of each other. And obviously there are a million more angles and lighting differences so this was just a few. My point is- there are lots of ways to get down on oneself about body image, especially on social media when bodies are no longer bodies; they’re just pictures. But the reality is a picture is not reality. An image is just an image and just like any other image, it differs with different angles and light. The person, however, does not. I’m always me, regardless of whether or not the lights are on. And I’m always strong, regardless of whether or not I’m flexing. That is all! Thanks for reading πŸ˜ŠπŸ€“

A photo posted by Schuyler Bailar (@pinkmantaray) on Feb 18, 2016 at 7:42am PST

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, post 2. It’s so easy to hate your body. To think it’s not good enough, not strong enough, or too muscular, not man enough, or too feminine, not big enough, or too small. It’s easy to feel like you’re always too much but never enough. I spent a long time feeling this way. But at some point I realized that I AM enough. Once, in treatment, a friend of mine said: “There is no good ‘enough’ – I am good; enough is irrelevant.” My body is good and it does me well. There are a lot of things for which I could critique myself, but I choose not to. Instead, I choose to love the story my body tells, the journey that is painted through scars and acne and my smile. It’s been a complicated and extremely nonlinear path, my friends, but I am here. And I am good. Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between or neither, you are good. Enough is irrelevant. #NationalEatingDisorderAwarenessWeek

A photo posted by Schuyler Bailar (@pinkmantaray) on Feb 28, 2016 at 7:02pm PST

#ThrowbackThursday to my first college swim meet and first time competing as male! Missing the competition season already 😩🏊🏽

A photo posted by Schuyler Bailar (@pinkmantaray) on Apr 6, 2016 at 9:52am PDT

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Filed Under: LBGTQ, News, Transgender

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