By Monica Shannon
In early March, the Vancouver Island University (VIU) women’s basketball team defeated their opponents from Columbia Bible College 69-59, and in doing so earned first place in the Pacific West championship finals. In the bleachers alongside dedicated VIU Mariners fans were 2SLGBTQ+ community members, labour activists and union leadership, Communist Party members, and other sympathizers – they were all there to stand in solidarity with the Mariners and, in particular with their forward Harriette MacKenzie.
During the season, Harriette experienced transphobic attacks perpetrated by members and staff of the Columbia Bible College women’s basketball team. Following a prior Mariners win over Columbia in October, Columbia’s coach Taylor Claggett confronted a VIU staff member and questioned Harriette’s right to play. The next day Claggett’s brother and business associate Kyle made a series of transphobic online posts echoing similar sentiments.
Columbia players were also filmed physically targeting Harriette on court, even when she was nowhere near the ball. Clagett was later profiled in fascist Canadian media outlet Rebel News and continues to be a figurehead in far-right social media.
While Columbia denied wrongdoing, Claggett was later removed from her coaching duties. This included the final championship match, which was relocated from Columbia’s campus to Capilano University in response to safety concerns. The Mariners had previously boycotted playing at Columbia given the lack of adequate safety planning.
Safety measures were necessary at Capilano, including metal detector screenings and security posted in washrooms. Even with these procedures in place, Columbia fans were heard making transphobic remarks. Despite allies’ reporting and confronting such people, security opted not to remove them.
In response to ongoing threats and violence, each of Harriette’s team members signed a public letter affirming their solidarity with their teammate and have remained committed to supporting her. Their solidarity must not be taken for granted. The Mariners’ dedication to one another was evident in the championship game in their on-court collaboration and camaraderie throughout the night all the way through to the hard-won final goal.
Harriette’s experiences are indicative of broader violence and prejudice that threaten trans people across North America and the world. Transphobic attacks have reached crisis proportions – Statistics Canada found that 59 percent of trans and gender diverse people in Canada are victims of violence.
In the United States, there are ongoing efforts at all levels of government to dismantle trans peoples’ access to healthcare, housing, education, employment and social assistance benefits, to say nothing of public space. In 2024, one NCAA official estimated there were approximately 10 openly trans people participating in US college sports nationwide. Following the second Trump Administration’s declaration of war against trans people, the NCAA subsequently banned trans women from participating in women’s sport.
Canada has not escaped this reactionary frenzy. In April 2024 the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (of which University of British Columbia and University of Victoria are both members) banned trans athletes from competing in their association’s sports. In October, a reporter at Black Press Media cited a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association survey that estimated “approximately six percent of all student-athletes [in Canada] identify as non-binary.” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has targeted trans people and endorsed their being banned from athletic competition.
In the face of far-right resurgence and increasingly blatant attacks on marginalized communities, anti-fascist allies have an obligation to continue to support heroes like Harriette who, by existing publicly, struggle for the rights of trans people to participate in society.
On game night, a broad coalition of allies came out to support Harriette and her teammates. Whether we ourselves are of living experience, involved in the labour movement, or are simply well-meaning allies, we must continue to show up, play and fight together.
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