Transgender powerlifter speaks out about return to sports world he loveshttp://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1225453-transgender-powerlifter-speaks-out-about-return-to-sports-world-he-lovesREMO ZACCAGNA SPORTS REPORTER
Published July 25, 2014 - 8:24pm
For most of his life, sports was like a sanctuary for Kinnon Ross MacKinnon, a place where he could be himself among friends.
While many kids in his native Antigonish would play hockey until it got dark outside, you would be more likely to find MacKinnon tearing up the slopes.
He was on the provincial freestyle ski team from the age of 12 to 14, then switched to snowboard and competed on the Nova Scotia team until 18.
And that's when he stopped, after having made what he thought would be the biggest decision of his life. He came out as bisexual and immediately felt abandoned by his family and friends.
"All of my interest just faded away and I just didn't want anything to do with snowboarding or anything athletic," MacKinnon, now 29, said in a recent interview.
"Subsequently, I was pretty depressed and I didn't have a very big support network at the time. My friends and parents weren't supportive, and I didn't have a lot of friends in the LGBT community at that time, so I was really out of shape and wasn't active."
The article is continued on Herald Sports.
