The mother of a nine-year-old transgender girl is calling on the authorities to ensure that children are not discriminated against when they compete in sporting events.

Samantha Lautier Agius made the call after her daughter had to endure the “embarrassment” of having her name included on the boys’ list.

Last week, Ms Lautier Agius’s daughter was competing in the ATQuadKids race organised by the Physical Education Department, representing the Gozo College. While the girl had been assured that she would be allowed to race with the other girls, as was the case when she competed in Gozo, moments before the race commenced, she was told she would have to race with the boys.

“We arrived at the Marsa Sports Complex, and when we opened the leaflet with the names of all the competitors, we realised that my daughter’s name was listed with those of the other boys,” Ms Lautier Agius said.

She said she was glad she hadn’t won the race and insisted she didn’t want to take part again

She said her daughter became hysterical, refusing to run the race. As a result, the organisers decided that there would be a single race and both the girls and boys would run together.

“That was not the point. My daughter had already been humiliated. She ran the 600-metre race with tears in her eyes and halfway through had an anxiety attack,” Ms Lautier Agius continued.

Her family recently relocated to Gozo because people there were more accepting of her daughter, Ms Lautier Agius said.

She said the girl was treated just like any other child and flourishing in sports.

“I had always been reluctant to allow her to attend sporting events, fearing she would face bullying and discrimination.

“But that is not the case in Gozo, where everyone treats my daughter just as they do any other nine-year-old girl,” Ms Lautier Agius said.

This was clearly not the case in Malta, the distraught mother said, adding that as soon as the race ended, other children walked up to her daughter, calling her names and asking her whether she was “a boy or a girl”.

“When the race ended, my daughter came up to me to say that she was glad that she hadn’t won the race and insisted that she didn’t want to take part in any other such competitions. This should not be happening,” the mother said.

Contacted about the incident, a spokeswoman for the Education Ministry said that the race was supposed to be mixed and “not gender specific”.

She pointed out that the ministry was working with the entities concerned to define a clear policy in this regard.

claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com