Rudy turns to TikTok to find out why they stopped playing sports
Success in badminton runs through the family of Rudy Jean Rigg.
Rudy—who is transgender, non-binary and uses the pronouns they/he—is excellent even reaching state level.
Rudy’s grandmother, Jean Tyrrel, is believed to have started Australia’s first badminton school.
“It kind of started, like most things, rather informally,” they said.
Their mother, Michelle Rigg, was a three-time junior national champion and later junior national coach.
And their sister? Junior national doubles champion.
While Melbourne-based Rudy used to play the sport, they don’t anymore.
“No, I haven’t really played but I want to get back to playing,” they said.
The reasons why are being explored in Rudy’s TikTok documentary series, Transathletica, which looks at the unique barriers transgender and gender-diverse people face to participate in sports.
“I felt if I confirmed my gender in any obvious way, I would no longer have a place in this sport,” Rudy said in one of the episodes.
This series, funded by TikTok and Screen Australia, explores the challenges of Rudy trying to enter the sport and includes insights from transgender athletes as well as researchers and endocrinologists.
“I help people gain a clearer and more holistic understanding of what it means to be trans in sports and what different life experiences look and feel like,” says Rudy.
Their main desire is to play badminton competitively, not just in a community sport.
Transathletica is one of the latest projects from LGBTQIA+ content creators and activists, who rose to fame through their TikTok channel, Rainbow History Class.
Co-created by Rudy and Hannah McElhinney in 2021, Rainbow History Class takes viewers through the history of queer and transgender people they “don’t get in school”, from the history of Queercore punk in the 1980s to how the rainbow flag became a symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“We’re both really big history nerds,” said Rudy, adding that their favorite part of history revolved around pre-colonial ideas about gender.
“What I find very interesting – and at the same time horrifying – is how the colonization and destruction of Indigenous cultures has played a role in the gender binary we have today.”
This presentation of queer history in TikTok format has received Rudy’s recognition, both nationally and internationally.
Along with Hannah McElhinney and producer Amina Soubjaki, they were named Best Creator on TikTok at the 2021 Australian Influencer Marketing Awards for the Rainbow History Class.
Recently, Rudy was listed as one of the top 10 online creators at the British LGBT Awards 2022.
“I was so shocked, I actually cried,” said Rudy. “It was very, very, I don’t know, unexpected.”
Adding to the feat, Rudy was recently named one of 45 Rainbow Champions for Sydney WorldPride 2023, a title given to those who have made a significant contribution to the LGBTQIA+ community.
The global pride event will take place during the 45th anniversary of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (the reason why 45 people were selected).
All Rainbow Champions from across Australia will be revealed throughout the year, with Rudy one of the first three named, alongside First Nations journalist Narelda Jacobs and LGBTQIA+ activist Peter de Waal.
“This is going to be a great opportunity for all of Australia, not just Sydney,” Jacobs said.
Mr de Waal was one of the 78ers, a group that took part in the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in 1978.
“Reflecting on that first Mardi Gras, overall it was a lonely event because there was no community, you know, standing along the street saying, ‘Yeah, it’s okay to be gay’,” he said.
“Now we have, you know, even families coming with kids.”
As Sydney prepares to make history as the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to host WorldPride, Rudy looks forward to connecting with the community.
“I went in with wide eyes and open arms, and I really wanted to get into anything and everything it had to offer.”
#Rudy #turns #TikTok #find #stopped #playing #sports
Comments
Post a Comment