Transgender athlete worries about Alberta legislation [Video]

EDMONTON –

Allison Hadley says she has been having a hard time focusing on training for an upcoming cross-country skiing competition.

If an Alberta bill restricting transgender women in sports is passed, she fears she won’t be able to register for the event she’s participated in for years. 

“I just feel empty,” Hadley, 44, said in a phone interview from Edmonton.

“This is a sport I want to continue doing until I don’t have the mobility to do so.”

Competing has helped her stay healthy and motivated and feel less isolated, she said.

“It’s my reason to go outside. I feel free and at peace when skiing.”

Alberta’s United Conservative Party government introduced last week the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act. It has passed first reading in the legislature. 

If enacted, it would ban transgender athletes from competing in female amateur sports, require school and sporting organizations to report eligibility complaints and see the creation of sports leagues with “mixed-gender” …