In a world marked by rising hostility to trans people, trans men and others across the gender spectrum have taken to the wrestling ring to turn traditional ideas of masculinity on their head – literally.
T Boy Wrestling, organized by Trans Dudes of LA, is packing venues across the country with a politically charged mix of classic American wrestling, staged psychodramas, mixed fighting with strip teases, and drag.
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“It’s a dream come true just to see this out in the open,” Mack Beggs, one of the five judges presiding over T Boy Wrestling, told NBC News at an event in Los Angeles. The former teen wrestling star earned the far right’s wrath when he tried and failed to join a boys’ team in Texas. He went on to win the girls’ state championships two years in a row.
T-Boy Wrestling has multiple events scheduled in New York and Los Angeles through the fall, including what promises to be a revealing carwash fundraiser in a parking lot in Glendale in two weeks.
Adam Bandrowski and Mich Miller, two L.A.-based artists and founders of Trans Dudes of LA, said the matches are a form of therapy for both the participants and the audience.
“We wanted to move away from a support-group model to highlight artists and makers in the community,” Miller said.
Bandrowski added, “We don’t have to talk about being trans. We can just hang out.”
Hanging out in this model includes ankle locks, camel clutches, inverted atomic drops, and the popular Half Nelson Bulldog.
High school teacher and trans activist Cal Dobbs entered the ring as wrestling villain the Devil’s Advocate.
“What’s the most toxically masculine person I can think of?” Dobbs asked. “The dude-bro with salmon shorts.”
Dobbs confronted Black trans and androgynous Cowboy Blvck, a DJ and chef who called their first pair of chaps “incredibly affirming.”
“My drag is being a cowboy,” Blvck said.
The crowd booed Dobbs’ villainous dude-bro when he had the cowboy on their back, though Blvck did manage to pull down the Devil’s salmon shorts; tighty-whities reading “Trust Fund Baby” had the crowd roaring and on their feet in the cowboy’s support.
T-Boy Wrestling follows traditional WWE prohibitions on biting, scratching, and itching, but flips the script on performers juicing – at an event with a mid-ring picnic.
Marco Miller and August Shapiro pranced through the ropes in short shorts and tiny tank tops, carrying a wicker basket. Lounging on a blanket, they toasted each other and whipped out their “T.”
With a “Rocket Man” remix blasting, the pair prepped their syringes and injected for the crowd, who went wild at the sight.
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