Transsexual Man (ftm) Cleared to Play Australian Rules Football

 Will, 25, who has been living as a man for two years, hopes to play competition football. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer

"I'm just an ordinary guy who wants to play football, just with slightly different circumstances of how I came to be a guy," he says.

Reporting from The Age (Australia), Jill Stark brings us news of a young man doing what a lot of young men do: playing football.  This young man was born a woman.

He has asked for and received permission from league officials to play football because it is for males only.  He will have a hysterectomy soon, which will allow him to change his birth certificate to indicate his gender as male.  This is important, because the league insurance won't cover him until this task is completed.

Will reached out to Nathan Buckley, famous AFL football star and author of All I Can Be.  He told Buckley that his story served as inspiration to Will, feeding his desire to play football himself.

His quest has been backed by Buckley, who told The Sunday Age he was "knocked over" by a "touching" letter from Will who, after reading the footy legend's autobiography All I Can Be, wrote to him about his dream of playing football and his struggle to be accepted as a man.

"It was like he was pouring his heart out to me and I felt compelled to let him know that I respected the fact that he trusted me with that stuff," Buckley said. "I just think it's tremendously courageous. Everyone should be encouraged to be themselves."

Will is now spending his time bulking up before tryouts and team assignments later in the year.

-arvan