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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play!

@queersportsproject.bsky.social
794 followers 297 following 348 posts

A historic comics anthology celebrating LGBTQ+ stories in sports! Published by award-winning Stacked Deck Press Edited by Megan Praz and Meghan Kemp-Gee Buy the book now: stackeddeckpress.com/product/come-o…

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Joanne Merriam @joannemerriam.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Daily(ish) #SmallPress #books: Come Out and Play by @meghankempgee.bsky.social and @meganpraz.bsky.social, @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social & Sodomy’s Solicitations: A Right to Queerness by Joseph J. Fischel, @templeunivpress.bsky.social. See alt-text. #DSPBposts #bookish 💙📚 #BookSky #booktok #booksta
Book cover for Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project by Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz, Stacked Deck Press: Shortlisted for LGBTQ+ Anthology in the Lambda Literary Awards (winners announced June 12th): https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/current-finalists/. A full-color comics anthology about LGBTQ+ people and their experiences in athletics! It features contributions from over 30 all-queer creators, ranging from experienced industry pros to iconic athletes making their comics debuts! Featuring new stories from beloved comics creators such as Josh Trujillo, Sophie Labelle, Steve MacIssac, and Ajuan Mance! Including stories from former NFL player R.K. Russell, Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James, and college basketball star Mac Crane! Edited by Megan Praz and Meghan Kemp-Gee, creators of the popular webcomic Contested Strip and the ultimate frisbee-themed graphic novel One More Year! https://stackeddeckpress.com/product/come-out-and-play-the-queer-sports-project/Book cover for Sodomy’s Solicitations: A Right to Queerness by Joseph J. Fischel, Temple University Press: Shortlisted for LGBTQ+ Studies in the Lambda Literary Awards (winners announced June 12th): https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/current-finalists/. Advances a queer politics that backgrounds nonnormative identities and foregrounds instead the state’s deployment of sex to govern. The political stories narrated in Sodomy’s Solicitations are undoubtedly stories of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia, but they are also stories of other political problems—and political possibilities. Fischel indicts U.S. sex offender regulatory regimes as state-sponsored sexual violence; offers a qualified defense for sexual expression in public; and argues that animal sexual abuse laws, with their exemptions for industrial agricultural practices, authorize the suffering they were enacted to deter. He also makes the case that laws criminalizing the exchange of sex for money are unconstitutional, and proposes that the best way to protect trans and queer children might just be to enfranchise them. https://tupress.temple.edu/books/sodomy-s-solicitations
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Heather Hogan @heatherhogan.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
I was honored to write the introduction for Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project, which has been nominated for 2 Eisner Awards! Come Out and Play is also a Lambda Literary Award finalist for LGBTQ+ Anthology! EISNER VOTERS: Digital review copies available! tara[at]stackeddeckpress[dot]com
A For Your Consideration graphic for Come Out and Play. 

For your consideration
THE QUEER SPORTS PROJECT
COME OUT ANDPLAY
Ooops...I Just
FIFY YEARS OF CATHARTIC COMICS
By Rupert Kinnard

STACKED
DECK PRESS
EDITED BY
MEGHAN KEMP-GEE G MEGAN PRAZ
• Best Anthology:
Come Out and Play
•Best Short Story:
"Football Is Not War"
• Best Comics-Related Book:
Ooops...I Just Catharted!
Digital review copies available for
Eisner Awards voters
COMIC INDUSTRINTRODUCTION
by Heather Hogan
Last summer, when the 2024 USA Women's Basketball team squeaked by France to win another Olympic gold medal, I picked up my wife and twirled her around our living room. She laughed, a little pink-cheeked and teary-eyed
- and as we spun, she began to blur together in my vision with the players on our TV. Which makes sense because she was dressed just like them. She was wearing one of my most prized possessions: a *4 Teresa Edwards Team USA basketball jersey that | bought out of some man's car trunk in the parking lot of a dilapidated JC Penney during the 1996 Olympics.
When I was eight years old, my neighbor bounce-passed a basketball to me in his drive-way, and it clicked into place in my hands and in my heart like a Lego.
I was there, on a five-dollar ticket, when Teresa Edwards led the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs to their first Final Four appearances in 1983 and 1985. I was there, ten years later, when Team USA began traveling the country by bus to play over 100 college teams in the lead-up to those Olympics in Atlanta. I was
I've been writing about LGBTQ+ sports and pop culture for 17 years, and I can tell you she's right. The difference between now and when I started this work - or between now and when I bought that Olympic trunk-jersey because merch for women's sports simply didn't exist in my teens - is that we know it. We know you can't win without gays on your team. Part of my job over the years has been to find and follow queer Olympians. My first time covering them, I could count the openly gay LGBTQ athletes on my hands, and I hardly needed the second one. Now, GLAAD has a Team LGBTQ medal tracker.
Our team wins more
EDWARDS
4
medals than most countries.
But numbers are
never the full story. Sports and politics exist in a symbiotic relationship, so of course one of the biggest fear-mongering issues of the day came crashing to the forefront of the conver-"As I was reading Come Out and Play the first time, with tears running down my face, I kept thinking, "This is me! Here I am!"
Come Out and Play is about all of us.
Folks for whom sports and queerness are tangled together, inextricable. Queer athletes, at all levels, who want to be their full selves, on the field and the court and the pitch, in the weightroom and the pool, at the skatepark and the gym."
THE QUEER SPORTS PRECI
COMEOUT ANDPLAY
+ - Heather Hogan
writer and editor
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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Happy Pride!! Call your reps and yell at them about these horrible book banning bills these losers keep trying to pass reps.fyi
reps.fyi
Find Your Representative
Find your representatives. Learn how to find and connect with them. Stay informed about their bills, committees, and contributions.
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Urban Truth Collective @urbantruth.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
“When I got home, I sat on the floor, wearing my helmet, and sobbed until I was hoarse with the overwhelm of my joy. I’d just ridden a bike for an hour! A bike! For an hour!” The “greatest feeling in the world” after Long COVID. E-bikes and accessibility, via @heatherhogan.bsky.social. #UrbanTruth
theheatherhogan.substack.com
The Greatest Feeling in the World
Seven months with an electric bike.
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Stacked Deck Press @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Come Out and Play is an Eisner nominee for Best Anthology! Co-edited by @meghankempgee.bsky.social and Megan Praz, this book features stories about LQBTQ+ people in sports! Including "Football Is Not War" by @rkrelentless.bsky.social and Wilfred Santiago, Eisner nominee for Best Short Story!
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Jonah Newman @jonahnewmancomics.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Eisner voters: Voting closes June 5! Please vote @queersportsproject.bsky.social for best anthology and for @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social's other nominees. Email @taramavery.bsky.social at tara[at]stackeddeckpress[dot]com for digital review copies! #EisnerAwards #foryourconsideration #reviewcopies
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Great new essay on sports and belonging by @jessicawluther.com , including a lovely mention of Come Out and Play! Don’t miss it:
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Jonah Newman @jonahnewmancomics.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
COME OUT AND PLAY is a 2026 Eisner nominee!!! So proud to be part of this glorious testament to queer athletes & sports stories. If you're an industry professional, please vote for us for Best Anthology! @queersportsproject.bsky.social @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social @meganpraz.bsky.social
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Lane Lloyd is the best sci fi pickleball artist in history, pass it on
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Meghan Kemp-Gee, SPACE POET @meghankempgee.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
This is amazing! Come Out and Play is nominated for an Eisner Award! So grateful to dearest friend @meganpraz.bsky.social for this journey. And to @taramavery.bsky.social of @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social and our LEGENDARY team of artists & athletes who made @queersportsproject.bsky.social happen 💗
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Amalas @amalasrosa.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Come Out And Play, an anthology I contributed an illustration to, got nominated for an Eisner!! Thank you @meghankempgee.bsky.social and @meganpraz.bsky.social for having me!! Congrats to everyone involved!! You made an amazing anthology!!
Photo of the cover of the anthology Come Out and Play, showing a collage of different characters playing various of sports Photo of my pinup page within the anthology. Showing my original characters Aran and Tao out on the streets in their neighborhood, dressed in sport clothes close to each other flirting. Aran is holding up a basketball teasingly to Tao .Screenshot of the announcement for the Eisner nomination for Come Out And PlayMy contribution illustration as original digital file. Scene is described earlier
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Richard Fairgray @richardfairgray.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Is it more wild that I'm in an Eisner nominated book, or that I'm in an Eisner nominated book for my story about playing sport? Either way, what a thrill.
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Laurz Drawz @illaurastrates.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
So,.. yeah. Wow, okay. I had the honour of contributing to an Eisner nominated book? Thank you to @meganpraz.bsky.social @meghankempgee.bsky.social for being so darn determined to get me in on it and for making such a beautiful book. The world needs more stories like these 💚🏳️‍🌈
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Sarah Michele Steve 🌻🌻🌻 @galacticturnip.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Oh my stars, I am literally over the moon right now!! Thank you so much @danverzone.bsky.social for letting me work with you on this project, it was great fun and a genuine honor! Seconding the shout out to @meganpraz.bsky.social and @meghankempgee.bsky.social 🎉 🎉
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Paclo Pop @escaich.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Estoy muy feliz con todas las nominaciones que se ha llevado @javierrodriguez.bsky.social, la de @lauraperezgranel.bsky.social, las de @jamesthefourth.bsky.social y la de la antología @queersportsproject.bsky.social 🙌🙌
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Stacked Deck Press @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Stacked Deck Press has been nominated for three 2026 #EisnerAwards! Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project for Best Anthology! Ooops...I Just Catharted!: Fifty Years of Cathartic Comics for Best Comics-Related Book! And "Football Is Not War", from Come Out and Play, for Best Short Story!
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
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Laurz Drawz @illaurastrates.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
I'm in an Eisner nominated book??? Wtf is happeningggg 😅💚
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
A wonderful day! COME OUT AND PLAY is nominated for an Eisner Award for best anthology! Congratulations to every one of our contributors. You are stars! Thank you to all our backers & supporters, too! This book was a BIG team effort 💗🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Here’s to queer art, love, sports, pride, & trans rights! 🥂
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
If you work in comics, you should register to be an Eisner voter! Applications to vote close today!
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
An extremely courageous person who meant a lot to so many people.
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
The #RingoAwards are open! You can nominate COME OUT AND PLAY for best anthology -- as well as all your favorite creators, short stories, and full-length comic works. Anyone can nominate someone here: ringoawards.survey.fm/ringo-awards...
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Yamino @yamino.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Babe wake up the sky is gay!!! 🌈✨️
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Bianca Siercke @biancasiercke.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
uaaa these are so beautiful!! I know I'm almost a year late seeing these, but couldn't help but gush over how wonderful these drawings and the lighting is 💛
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Yes we are obsessed too! Read @andycasadonte.bsky.social’s unforgettable running love song and many many other wonderful comics: stackeddeckpress.com/product/come...
stackeddeckpress.com
Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project – Stacked Deck Press
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Mel Woods @melwoods.me · 10/04/2026
I've started responding to some of these, and I will say a good healing salve in ~ these times ~ is an inbox full of trans joy from folks across Canada. I'm working on this story for a while though, so feel free to keep sharing in your networks!
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nora "the tea kobold" rude (they/them ze/hir) @nora.zone · 05/04/2026
BEEP BOOP THIS IS NORA'S AUTOMATED STRETCH CHECK. today is Sunday. everyone do your stretchies. 💪🤖
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Shireen Ahmed @shireenahmed.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
You care about women? Give them reproductive rights, accessibility options, be accountable, give access to comprehensive health care, affordable child care, economic stability, workplace safety, better laws against sexualized violence. Don't continue to strip sport from communities that need it.
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Ellie, Isekai Sommelier @ellieprobably.northsky.social · 26/03/2026
This is completely unsubtle transphobia language and also a blatant lie as research has shown the opposite. This is complete capture by international hate groups.
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dr. thrasher, an american writer in ex(archia)(xile) @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This week has seen anti-trans legislation and policies advance or pass in Portugal, India, Ghana, Senegal, the US and the Olympics. It’s an an-all global assault on transgender people. It was begun by rich white ppl in England and the US. Being trans is good. We will never abandon trans people.
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Meghan Kemp-Gee, SPACE POET @meghankempgee.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Come Out and Play @queersportsproject.bsky.social gets a mention in this CBC Books article about Canadian @lambdaliterary.org finalists! www.cbc.ca/books/jaime-...
cbc.ca
Jaime Burnet, Jordan Tannahill and jaye simpson shortlisted for 2SLGBTQ+ writing awards | CBC Books
The Lambda Literary Awards celebrate 2SLGBTQ+ storytelling and recognize authors in 26 categories. This year, a handful of Canadians received nods.
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Wow, this is amazing! We are #Lammys2026 finalists! Thank you @lambdaliterary.org for recognizing Come Out and Play. And special thanks to all of our contributors & teammates! This is a beautiful anthology project made up of many people’s work, love, and support. 🩷🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
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Lambda Literary @lambdaliterary.org · 18/03/2026
The 2026 finalists in LGBTQ+ Anthology: Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project by Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz. @queersportsproject.bsky.social @stackeddeckpress.bsky.social #Lammys2026
Image of 5 book covers representing the 2026 finalists for the Lammy Award in LGBTQ+ Anthology.
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project is a finalist for the 2026 Lambda Literary Awards in the category of LGBTQ+ Anthology! Congratulations to co-editors Megan Praz and Meghan Kemp-Gee! Winner announced June 12th! You can get your own copy at stackeddeckpress.com!
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Lane! Draws! Comics! @lanedraws.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Taxes aren't looking super great, so, I'm opening a few cover slots for the next month or so. If you need a cover for your next project, consider hiring me! I've worked with Legendary, IDW, Image, Oni, and more! Price range: $250-500 Portfolio: lanelloyd.crevado.com/cover-work
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Meghan Kemp-Gee, SPACE POET @meghankempgee.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
For your amusement, we put a little bit of #pickleball in Passing in the Night. We’re on Kickstarter for 2 more days if you’d like a copy :) kck.st/46ydhYF #picklesky #graphicnovel #comicsky #booksky #indiecomics
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Lane! Draws! Comics! @lanedraws.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
We've only got 8 days left and we've got about $1000 more to raise for PASSING IN THE NIGHT. @meghankempgee.bsky.social wrote a hell of a script, @meganpraz.bsky.social 's letters are astounding, and I made some pretty cool drawings! If you like queer romance, back today! kck.st/46ydhYF
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Meghan Kemp-Gee, SPACE POET @meghankempgee.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Even witches need a hobby, and you better believe that hobby is #pickleball. Passing in the Night is on Kickstarter! A graphic novel for potion-witches, wish-witches, and even pickle-witches. 🧹🧪🥒 Back us today! kck.st/46ydhYF
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Heather Hogan @heatherhogan.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Did someone say LESBIANS AND DRAGON?! 😍
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Lane! Draws! Comics! @lanedraws.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
If you like queer romance, dragons, and goats, I think you'd really enjoy PASSING IN THE NIGHT! All of us on the team have worked our butts off to make something funny, thrilling, and most importantly, heart warming. Life can be hard when your wife is a dragon. kck.st/46ydhYF
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Acorn Comics @acorncomics.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
If you’re looking to show some love to indie comics, look no further! They’re all on #Kickstarter now, one (or all) is sure to be what you’re looking for. #comics @cbdevin95.bsky.social @lanedraws.bsky.social @meghankempgee.bsky.social @stealthhammer.bsky.social @findingdeefish.bsky.social
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Heather Hogan @heatherhogan.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
“Gay! She’s gay!” - me scrolling down to the Personal Life section on Wikipedia during every Olympics event
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Go see Meghan at #FANEXPOVancouver! She’s got Come Out and Play!
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Lane! Draws! Comics! @lanedraws.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Yelling some more about this book I had the pleasure of drawing. If you like when women is gay, and one of them is a dragon, this is the book for you.
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Meghan Kemp-Gee, SPACE POET @meghankempgee.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Vancouver! Come celebrate the pre-launch of PASSING IN THE NIGHT! We've got comics, snacks, and a cozy star-crossed love story that'll warm your scaly heart 💚 🐉 February 10 at your friendly neighbourhood bookstore @crossandcrowsbooks.bsky.social
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The Queer Sports Project: Come Out and Play! @queersportsproject.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
At Pasadena Comic Con with our friends from Prism Comics! Stop by booths H9 and H10 for all the latest cool LGBTQ+ comics! Ask about Come Out and Play: The Queer Sports Project and Ooops…I Just Catharted!: Fifty Years of Cathartic Comics!
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Mac Crane (they/them) @mcrane12.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
if you live in California & have a soul, sign this petition I made to oppose Rady Children’s Hospital’s decision to end gender affirming care for trans youth www.change.org/oppose-rady-...
change.org
Sign the Petition
Californians Oppose Rady Children's Hospital's Decision to End Gender-Affirming Care
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Zoe TunnHELL ➡️ NYCC @zoewithasword.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
You CAN get gayer
Fortune Cookie Fortune that says Today, make it your mission to encourage those who cross tour path
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ACLU @aclu.org · 11/01/2026
Trans youth like Becky Pepper-Jackson deserve the right to participate in school sports without facing discrimination. Tuesday, we'll be at the Supreme Court defending Becky and other trans kids' right to play.
cnn.com
This high school sophomore is aiming for a Supreme Court upset in transgender sports case | CNN Politics
This high school sophomore is aiming for a Supreme Court upset in transgender sports case
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