"Keep fighting the good fight": Payton McNabb video goes viral as injured North Carolina volleyball player calls for ban

Payton McNabb, a high school volleyball player from North Carolina, has urged the state legislature to propose and pass a bill banning trans athletes from partaking in female sports. She claimed to have been seriously injured last year when a transgender athlete spiked a ball at her.

McNabb, who is a senior at Murphy’s Hiwassee Dam High School, appeared in front of the state representatives on Wednesday, April 19, and said that she suffered a neck injury and a concussion during a game on September 1, 2022.

To push for the legislation, former All-American Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines shared a video clip of McNabb’s speech on Twitter and extended her support for her. Gaines added that she was honored to stand alongside Payton McNabb in NC to continue their fight to protect women’s sports.

Riley Gaines also added a clip where McNabb was hit in the face by a ball thrown by the trans athlete during a game last year. One Twitter user, @jrhagan357, wrote that it hurt his face as well. He called Riley and Payton McNabb's fight a good fight and encouraged them to continue.

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Payton McNabb's claims in front of state representatives

Payton McNabb said that her life has forever changed because of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association policy, which allows biological males to compete in women’s sports against biological females.

She claimed that she has also been forced to obtain accommodations at the high school due to her weakened ability to understand and retain information. Payton McNabb told the legislature:

“I was unable to play the rest of my last volleyball season, and although I’m currently playing softball, I’m not able to perform as well as I know I have in the past because of the injury.”

Payton McNabb then affirmed that she was not there for herself because she was aware that her time playing volleyball was coming to an end. She asserted, however, that she was there to represent all of the other biological female athletes who looked up to her, including her younger sister, cousins, and teammates.

The injured volleyball player stated that it is dangerous to allow biological males to compete in sports against biological females. She added:

“I may be the first to come before you with an injury, but if this doesn’t pass, I won’t be the last.”

Payton McNabb said that her ability to compete in sports was taken from her. She added that having to play against transwomen who are biological males was not a level playing field and was also not safe.

McNabb’s testimony about the trans athlete made an impact, as the following day, H574, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, was passed by the Republican-controlled House of North Carolina. This act would prohibit transgender girls and women from joining sports teams meant for females in middle school, high school, and college.

The veto-proof vote results were 73–39. Three Democrats voted in favor of separating sports from the students’ reproductive genetics and biology at birth, i.e., their biological s**. The bill was sent to the Senate, where an opposing proposal might have reached the Senate floor by Thursday.

The bill, if passed by the Senate, would only restrict middle and high school athletes. GOP Rep. Kristin Baker, the primary sponsor of the bill, claimed that this is a bill that needs to become inclusive and not exclusive. She further added that the bill was proposed to allow fair and physically safe competition.

However, Democratic Representative Vernetta Alston slammed the GOP for amplifying a few isolated occurrences to blow the situation out of proportion. She said that injuries are common in sports, irrespective of who is participating.

Alston said the bill was a pretext for bigotry and part of a larger attempt to ban trans people from living their lives. She warned during the floor debate that this bill would further exclude an already vulnerable population.