For Kelsey Gellner, a Seattle-based pediatric nurse, a statewide proposal to bar trans girls from sports participation feels like a violation of her duty as a medical professional. The ballot initiative includes a requirement she calls “invasive and extreme”: all students who wish to compete on girls’ teams would have to undergo genital exams.
“I tell my kids and patients that my No 1 job is to keep them safe,” said Gellner, who is also a board member of the Washington State Nurses Association. “I can say with confidence that girls do not want to have an unnecessary exam that creates an unsafe barrier.”
The necessity of it could be argued, but the motivation of it was medical. A doctor performing a test that was mandated by the league does not make them a pedophile. It was a common practice that was well documented, not a secret in a back room. I can’t say that it was necessary, I’m not a doctor. But pretending it was motivated by pedophilia is idiotic.