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Utah native trans man competes in ‘Titan Games’ BY MICHAEL AARON
In a 2006 article, the Deseret Morning News declared a 6’2”, 170 pound, Mountain View High School Orem senior as “Ms. Basketball” for the year, after being the first Utah player to be named a McDonald’s All-American, signing with Stanford, breaking the state’s blockedshots record, and leading their teammates to a region title and second-place finish in the 5A state tournament. The newspaper wrote about how “little girls were telling her they wanted to be like her someday.” Fourteen years later, that athlete stood on a platform, ready to compete before 3.8 million viewers in the Titan Games, hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. This time as Mitch Harrison — the first transgender man to compete on the show. The stories from magazines across the nation may now be writing how transgender people may want to be like him someday.
Early life in Utah Raised in a conservative LDS family, Harrison says his life growing up was good. “My upbringing was rather positive,” he told QSaltLake. “My dad left the picture PHOTO: NBC UNIVERSAL
when I was quite young, but my family was incredibly tight-knit, which made up for a lot.” The youngest child in the family, or the “caboose kid,” as he says it, he was always on the receiving end of praise and attention. “This eventually led to a lot of expectations being placed on my shoulders, though,” he said. “It was evident early on that I was a talented athlete and being born into the [LDS] church meant those religious standards and expectations would always be there as well.” His older sister Kara became his basketball coach and biggest cheerleader. As Harrison got older, his feelings on his gender identity and sexuality came into conflict with LDS Church teachings — those which his family ardently believed. “It became more problematic once I hit high school when accolades started to pile up, and the internal conflicts with my sexuality and gender identity intensified,” he said. “There was a lot I was expected to live up to, and it was difficult to escape the disappointment as my repressed emotions began to surface.” Kara became Mitch’s primary advocate through those struggles.
College Basketball It was at this time that he was being recruited by college basketball teams. Harrison had played 94 games in their high school career, scoring 1,682 points, 1,053 rebounds, and 463 blocked shots — a record at the time. Harrison was named an Adidas All-American twice, a Street & Smith’s All American twice, and was invited to participate in
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USA Basketball’s developmental festival. “It’s just my life,” Harrison told the Deseret Morning News when asked what it was like to have hundreds of college coaches e-mailing, calling and writing. “Sometimes it seems surreal, and a little overwhelming, but I know I’m getting an opportunity not a lot of players get. I’m just trying to enjoy it.” “I’ll always be grateful that I had family and friends who provided so much support while I navigated the recruiting process, and encouraged my choice to leave Utah for Stanford.” At Stanford, Harrison had some girlfriends, who became the only people he talked to about his gender identity. “I expressed some of my dysphoria with very few people who were close to me, namely my ex-girlfriends who got to witness my dysphoria firsthand,” he said. “Otherwise, I was not very open about it, nor did I fully understand it myself at that time.” Harrison suffered from a torn ACL sophomore season, ending basketball there. They graduated from Stanford and was able to transfer to the University of Utah, playing on the Women’s Basketball Team. He then left for two years to play in Switzerland and Greece, but injuries ended that career.
Transitioning Then in 2015, Harrison met Krista, who would become his wife two years later. ‘[Krista] was really the first person who was completely supportive of my gender identity, and had finally given me that safe space to be fully open about it,” Harrison said. “Thinking about actually transitioning didn’t come about until I was forced to retire from basketball due to injuries. Basketball was always my priority and it took a while for me to realize I was
