Transgender Olympic Athlete Sparks Controversy
U.S. Olympic team this week sparked controversy on social media.Earlier this week, Nikki Hiltz, a transgender and nonbinary runner, qualified for the U.S.
Olympic team heading to the Paris Olympics later this year."woke up an Olympian," Hiltz, who uses they/them pronouns, wrote in a social media post on Monday. "Yesterday afternoon in Eugene Oregon a childhood dream of mine came true.
I'm not sure when this will fully sink in … All I know is today I'm waking up just so grateful for my people, overwhelmed by all the love and support, and filled with joy that I get to race people I deeply love and respect around a track for a living."In 2021, Hiltz said in a social media post that they "came out about" their sexuality when they were 19 years old."Yesterday at 26 I came out about my gender identity," Hiltz, who competed in the women's category in the Olympic trials, wrote in the post. "There's nothing like the morning after coming out.
This morning there are nerves, excitement and a heart full of gratitude. All I can say is thank you, it feels so good to be seen."Explaining her transgender identity in more detail, they added: "That means I don't identify with the gender I was assigned at birth.
