Monaco (AFP) – Julie Tetart, a transgender basketball player from Monaco who dominated the second division regular season as a pivot, has sparked numerous controversies which she explains, in an interview with AFP, that she wants to put an end to through pedagogy.

Published on: 05/01/2026 - 5:13 p.m.

Q: Why did you return to basketball after your transition?

A: "After my coming out, the basketball that I had played for more than 20 years among boys, it was over for me, given the complexity of being a trans woman in sport. I didn't have the shoulders to take it. But when you are passionate, when basketball is your life, leather calls you. I had to start again as an amateur in Picardy. But I tried out in Monaco in D3. I signed. We moved up."

Q: How was your arrival?

A: "I came out of nowhere, I was perfectly welcomed. When your president says +11 players, not 10 plus a trans player+, you know that you are accepted. On the other hand, travel remains complicated. Last year, I was very expensive in certain rooms. This season, there are still insults. But my media coverage helps me. People are informed, leave me more alone. The objective is to be able to finish my career in an atmosphere cool and that future generations no longer experience this hostility."

Q: You have become a standard bearer...

A: "I wasn't prepared for it. I'm not an activist. But what I do is a form of activism. If it can help others to live their lives, I do it with pleasure. Cisgender people discover transidentity in a good way. Others, transgender, see me living my life as a professional athlete, maintaining my muscular physique, and say to me: +Thanks to you, I went to the gym+. Which they forbade themselves out of fear."

Q: How did you experience your transition?

A: "It was long, physically and psychologically energy-consuming. I was still on the operating table in May 2024. But I had waited for this all my life. I knew around 5-6 years old that something didn't correspond to me, without identifying it. I put a word on my transidentity at puberty, a complicated period. I came out in October 2021, at the age of 29. Pretending was no longer possible. I was finally going to be who I have always been."

Q: Does not receiving an award at the end of the season despite your convincing statistics (21.2 points, 20.2 rebounds) shock you?

A: "I don't really care. I'm 33, I'm no longer chasing individual trophies. If we go up with Monaco, that will remain. For me, the main thing is to play, to experience collective victories. Many of my opponents tell me they want to face me because I'm the best. Talking about a boycott because I'm trans is not the reality."

Q: Some people mention it...

A: "Transidentity has existed since the dawn of time. But six years ago, it was still considered a mental illness by the WHO (removed in 2019, editor's note). Its emphasis in sport is new. Without explanation, we do not understand, we are afraid, we criticize, we reject."

Q: What do you say when we talk about physical benefits?

A: My height (1.91 m) is high in women's basketball but many others, like (Dominique) Malonga or (Iliana) Rupert are taller. It is scientifically proven that HRT (Feminizing Hormone Replacement Treatment) reduces bone density. I am prone to osteoporosis. HRT and operations reduced my testosterone level to 0.3, compared to a minimum of 0.5 in a cisgender woman. We talk about muscle and tendon memory. Before my transition, I was dunking in dry relaxation. It has become impossible. It is also proven that after 18 months of treatment, the advantages in strength, power and respiratory capacity disappear. I have been treated since January 2022. When I explain this, they tell me: +Play!+" But it's difficult. I understand that we don't want to be publicized (like Aurore Pautou, another transgender player, editor's note). For ten interested people, 1000 insult you. It's very heavy. On the networks, it's still: +Julien not Julie+. I must be irreproachable. At the slightest deviation, they say: +She's trans+. Luckily, on the court, my mind escapes. Basketball helps me a lot."

Q: Women's League, Euroleague, French team: what are your objectives?

A: "Moving up will be the objective with Monaco next season. I would also like to play in the Euroleague and do a training camp with the Blues. Will I have the level? I still need my coach to guide me on my new position. I am still in training."

Comments collected by Christophe Belleudi

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