Girl, 16 Removed from Swim Team after Objecting to Adult Males in Locker Room

Some girls would be afraid to object to sharing a locker room with a biological male over fear of being labeled a transphobe, but not Abbigail Wheeler.

The 16-year-old athlete is speaking out about privacy and safety concerns after she says she was kicked off her swim team and banned from the YMCA in Springfield, Illinois, for raising alarm about an adult male changing in the women’s locker room.

“I was uncomfortable with biological men being allowed to undress in the same space as me and my underage teammates,” she said at a Thursday press conference near the YMCA building. “Not only were my feelings discredited, but I was removed from my swim team.”

She added that “I am here in hopes that my story will reach parents, future parents, coaches, churches and members of the YMCA.”

Certainly word is spreading. Those who rallied around Abbigail and the Wheeler family were other female swimmers, the Independent Women’s Forum, and Republican state legislators with the Illinois Freedom Caucus, who scolded YMCA officials. (Excerpt from The Washington Times.)