Transgender basketball player speaks out about her desire to play in women's league

A transgender basketball player, who is hoping to play in the women’s NBL1 league in Australia, has broken her silence.

Lexi Rodgers made headlines this month when it was announced that the Kilsyth Cobras were willing to welcome a transgender athlete onto their team.

This move left people divided with some people praising the inclusivity, while others wasted no time in heavily criticising it – Andrew Bogut being one of them.

The former NBA champion lead the chorus of people who were outraged, tweeting: “Word is @NBL1 South Women will have a biological Male playing this upcoming season.

“Are you ok with sacrificing the sanctity of Female Sport in the name of ‘inclusion’? #GirlDads where are you?

“The hashtag is trendy until action is needed.”

While this was all going on, Lexi's name had been kept anonymous – until now.

“It’s good to have a bit of a voice, now, because, when it’s this hypothetical person and people are making a picture of what a transgender athlete looks like in their head, 1: I don’t think it’s me, and, 2: I think it’s a bit harsh and people forget that there’s actually a person,” she said.

“If you don’t get it and you don’t know 1: don’t yell stuff on the internet about it because it’s probably wrong, and, 2: Go and learn about it.

“Please be nice. It has been a hard week, so just try to remember that there’s actual people who are affected by these discussions and these debates.”

Lexi has high hopes for her basketball career, expressing her desire to play in the WNBL as well as for the Australian Opals at international level one day.

“Coming into women’s basketball has been pretty cool, because, unfortunately, I didn’t know many of you before,” she added.

“But now, watching you (Maley) play, and watching people like Cayla (George) play, Mon Conti … that’s where I want to get to, that’s where I want to be.”