3:44
Kris, who is only in the seventh grade, decided to testify against the bill and his story spread like wildfire.
“The main reason why I'm using my voice is so that I can speak for others that may not be able to use their own,” he said. “I want to be an outlet or a source of comfort, and to let people know that you're not alone.”
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/wilka-parents-abc-ay-210511_1620772716903_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
Kris’ parents have cautioned him about going public with his gender identity.
“Every step along the way, we've told Kris, ‘Kris, you don't have to do this because you're putting yourself out there.’ Because, on social media, a lot of hurtful things [have been] said about him by these so-called grown ups and adults,” Wilka said. “Every step of the way, though, Kris' message has been, ‘Mom and dad, if I don't speak up for me, who's going to?’”
Kris says he considers all people in the trans community to be his family.
“We[‘ve] got to stand up for each other and with each other,” he said. “I don't think they're thinking that we're all humans, we all have emotions… They need to know that … we're not different in that aspect that we're humans.”
Kris says football has earned him his closest friends, and taught him discipline and how to work with others. He also says it’s a crucial personal safe space.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/kris-coffee-abc-ay-210511_1620772716899_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
“It's where I can be myself the most. It's where I can sometimes escape from school or something,” he said. “It's a place that I can feel like I belong. And, without football, without that safe place, there isn't really -- I mean, there's my family, there [are] my teachers -- but there isn't really somewhere that I can go to escape a lot of things.”
His mother, Jena Wilka, says she’s glad he has been able to play the sport but she fears it will be taken away.
“I worry about that a lot. I think about it a lot,” she told “Nightline.” “As he gets older we don't really know what he would do without football as an outlet. So I'm hoping that we keep that going as far as kids just being kids, kids just playing sports and being children.”
John Wilka added that if his son were to stop playing because an authority figure told him to, he wants it to be a coach, not a politician.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/kris-intv-abc-ay-210511_1620772716901_hpEmbed_16x9_384.jpg\")
“You know, when a coach says, ‘Well, you're not good enough for the team,’ whatever age that may be,” he said. “I just don't [want] some legislator that doesn't play sports to do that.”
Kris said his coaches were some of the first people he’d told about being transgender. Afterward, one of the first questions they asked was about which position he’d feel best playing.
“They made me do push ups when we all had to do push ups, they never stopped me from doing anything more than the other kids,” Kris said. “They completely just went over me being transgender and they treated me like another kid on the team.”
Kris hopes to try out for quarterback next year.
“The quarterback is who people look up to for direction,” he said. “You have to remember what will go down in the play and make sure it will go smoothly and make sure your line is behind the ball. ... There's a lot that goes into it, but it's definitely rewarding.”
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