Transgender cricketer Maxine Blythin reveals shock at backlash on 'Woman Player of the Year' award
Maxine won Kent club's 'Woman player of the year award' after ending the season as the third-highest run-getter in the county championships. Katie Hopkin's tweet led to Maxine receiving hateful comments and led to a debate.
Maxine Blythin in action for Kent cricket club during the 2019 domestic season. (Image source: Kent cricket club)
Transgender cricketer Maxine Blythin in an interview with a British sports channel talked about her life and the backlash she faced after receiving the Kent woman player of the year award earlier this month.
Maxine made her debut for Kent this season as its opener and ended the season as the third-highest run scorer. Katie Hopkins, a British columnist wrote on Twitter questioning Maxine’s inclusion in women’s cricket, which led to furore on the platform. The tweet has since been deleted as it was derogatory and violated guidelines of the platform. Maxine was left in the centre of negative comments, hate and more but also received support from the cricketing circle.
Tammy Beaumont, her Kent captain and England opener came out in support of the batswoman.
Maxine got caught in the middle of an intense debate about inclusion of trans people in sports.
In the interview, Maxine explains, “From my perspective, I was born with a condition that meant I had no real levels of testosterone, which meant I never went through any form of male puberty. That means I am eligible to play women’s sport at any level, in any sport. Naturally so, the debate that has been going around doesn’t actually apply to myself ”
Maxine did seek medical intervention to help with levels of estrogen to go through female puberty as “female puberty was in line with what works for me,” she said.
She revealed that she was shocked to see the backlash over her playing in the women’s county championship.
"From obviously reading media stories you know that that kind of mentality is out there," Maxine said, adding "There are people who just don't like you because you're different or you don't fit into their binary norms that they see.
"You get a lot of hate mail, some more extreme than others. It's probably the hardest thing, I think, for someone like me to experience because it's someone saying, 'you are not valid, I get to decide who you are, not you', without any understanding of the biology behind it, the science behind it, and just in general how your brain works.”
She suffers from a condition called gender dysphoria, where a person experiences discomfort or distress because their biological sex does not equate with their gender identity and she remembers feeling that way "before I can remember other memories".
"It's a feeling of disgust, a really hurtful feeling,” she adds.
Maxine has received support from her family, teammates, the cricketing circle and says that throughout her life she had no problems or issues with her identity.
"My friends have all been accepting. My family, with some time, were very accepting. At work I've never had any issues, on the sporting field, not a single comment, no issues. In just general life, going to the shops, going anywhere, not a single issue at any stage. I've just been living my life being a normal human, going to work, going to the shops, paying taxes."
Asked to describe herself, she said: "A woman, simple as that. I always have felt that way, I've always wanted to articulate it as such."
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
