Jazz Jennings has spoken out about her experience being banned from playing soccer at school because she is transgender.
The 20-year-old trans star shot to fame back in 2007 following her interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20. She was just six years old at the time and has since been a beloved and outspoken activist for the LGBTQ+ community ever since.
However, with Trans Day of Visibility approaching - a day dedicated to celebrating trans individuals and highlighting the discrimination they continue to face - Jennings has revealed the discrimination she faced when she was just eight years old.
Sharing a video with her 104,000+ Twitter followers, Jennings captioned the post: "When I was 8 years old, I was banned from my playing girls' soccer for over two years."
She adds: "The ban made me feel excluded, had no merit, and negatively affected me and my family."
Alongside her speech, Jennings including clips from her TLC show, I Am Jazz. In one clip, Jazz's father can be seen tearfully pleading with the organizers of the league to allow his daughter to once again take part in the sport.
He says: "Your decision has taken away a piece of her heart and her parents'. Please let her play girls travel soccer presently, or let me know what reasonable steps we must take for you to change your position."
Per the LA Times, Jennings' father says in the full clip from the show that Jazz had asked him: "Why don’t you tell them that just because I’m a little different does not mean I should not have the right to play with my team. Tell them it’s not fair."
In the episode in question, Jazz also says: "It’s very upsetting, ‘cause if I go to the games to support my team, I know that I’m not gonna play, and I’m just sitting on the bench."
Fortunately, although a little over two years later, Jennings announced that a trans-inclusive policy was introduced following her family's protesting.
In her tweet, Jennings provided links to petitions and articles calling for the recent anti-trans sports bills to be axed.
Jennings has shared her story following bills like the ones passed in Mississippi and Arkansas banning transgender women and girls from participating in sports.
And in a recent interview with The Guardian, Jazz's mom, Janette Jennings, revealed her stance on the recent bills, saying:
"You have these politicians out there that have this fear of transgender kids, with bathrooms and now with sports. I don’t understand it. We fought so hard to win our battles. To see it all unraveling now is breaking my heart. I’m torn up about this. It’s discrimination at its ugliest."
Additionally, NBC News reported yesterday that Arkansas has passed another bill banning gender-affirming care for trans youth.
In response, Jennings shared another tweet saying: "This is not okay! Gender-affirming care saved my life and is so important to transgender individuals."