Santa Clara, CA — Gabrielle Ludwig, a 50-year old, 6-8 transsexual woman, made her college basketball debut with Mission college (CA.) last night.
Born Robert John Ludwig, Ludwig has previously played basketball at Nassau Community College in 1980 as a man.
Fast forward 32 years later, a sex change operation in July 2012, Ludwig showed interest in suiting up again while at a team fundraiser, but was unsure of her eligibility and whether she would be able to compete as a woman.
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With strong support from head coach Corey Cafferata. They worked together on having two years of eligibility reinstated and changing her gender on her birth certificate to allow her to play.
Gabrielle’s team lost their first game 69-62 to Siskiyous college. Ludwig scored 3 points on 0-3 from the field, 3-4 on free throws and grabbed 4 rebounds. [boxscore]
Afterward, Ludwig spoke to a USA Today, saying:
“If the example I can set for the kids who are transgenders in high school, for the people who hate transgender people and for those learning to deal with transgenders, transsexuals, if they see me as a normal person and we are not the bogeyman and love life and raise kids just like you,” said Ludwig, a scientist at Roche Molecular Diagnostics in Pleasanton, “maybe some of this mystery of who these people are will be taken away and there can be more blending into society. People are afraid of what they don’t know. I am willing to put myself out there. It was not like that before. It was just about playing basketball. It’s about more because I see an injustice.”
Gabrielle is also a father and Desert Storm veteran, and after the game last night, may have became the first transsexual college athlete to participate as both genders. For more information about Gabi Ludwig, go to Inside Bay Area.
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