The man who played as a woman

One of the growing issues in the US and global sports is the right of transgender athletes to compete, particularly at school and amateur levels. Many parents are concerned that their young daughters will be discouraged from pursuing their athletic careers if they get badly beaten by former males. In some cases, men (or boys) qualify as female by simply taking hormone shots to lower their testosterone and lose some muscle mass, and declaring themselves female even without any surgery. And though this has become alarming to some sectors in the last three years or so and became more pronounced under President Joe Biden, there is actually a surprising precedent in American basketball a decade ago.

Robert John Ludwig was born in Germany. At age nine, he joined his mother and military stepfather when they moved to the US. Growing extremely tall after he hit puberty, Robert became a 6’8”, 220-pound, high-flying slam dunker for Nassau Community College in 1980, at age 20. The muscular, tattooed colossus joined the US Navy for eight years as an anti-submarine technician. But similar to many men who identify as women, Robert grew up secretly rummaging through his mother’s closet, trying on her clothes, imagining living openly as a member of the opposite sex.

Though he eventually got married and sired a daughter, Ludwig started feeling a stronger desire to become female. He publicly dressed as a woman and wore wigs and make-up. He started taking female hormones and grew breasts. After 11 years, his marriage fell apart and he got divorced. In his 40’s, Robert finally declared himself female, and changed his name to Gabrielle.

Thirty years after last playing organized basketball, at the end of 2010, Ludwig suited up for the Mission College Saints, a community college squad. Community college rules are more relaxed about eligibility, and teams play in lower-tier competition. Nicknamed “Gabbi”, “Giant” and Big Sexy” by teammates, the first person to play college basketball as both man and woman was a little slimmer and smaller, a result of years of taking hormones and finally having gender reassignment surgery. But at 50, she had to work harder just to keep up with everyone else.

Obviously, Ludwig’s size gave her some advantages over the competition despite her age. But this example will be brought up time and again as the argument over how to treat competitive amateur transgender athletes gets louder. Though they are guaranteed the same rights as everybody else regardless of which gender they identify as, the protection of naturally-born women athletes must also be paramount. In many countries, there is already a roaring legal battle over whether or not parents can consent to let their minor children undergo hormone therapy, or take puberty blocker drugs, the first steps towards changing gender. Internationally, gender reassignment surgery is generally restricted until a child reaches 16 or 18, depending on what age a country considers adulthood. But at those ages, they can still be varsity or amateur athletes.

How would a conflicted, conservative country like the Philippines handle an issue like this?