A new report from the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Women’s Sports Foundation calls on collegiate sports programs to adopt a uniform policy that bans discrimination against transgender athletes. Such a policy would replace the patchwork of state laws that currently protect transgender students from discrimination. The report’s authors also call for private changing areas in locker rooms, comfortable uniforms for transgender students, and a general effort to educate people on gender identity. The report is the product of a 2009 conference and includes testimonials from transgender athletes, most of whom had positive experiences with their own teams but felt misunderstood in the broader world of college sports.
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6 Responses to College Sports Programs Should Protect Transgender Athletes, Report Says
washingtonwarrior - October 4, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Very intriguing topic. I wonder how the NCAA would rule on a transgender student-athlete. Obviously the South African track star stirred up quite the controversy last year.
jrod643 - October 4, 2010 at 4:14 pm
This is absolute insanity. Sports are about bonds between the athletes. I’m not opposed to homosexuals in sports but how far can the NCAA gonna let it slide. Honestly, cramming liberal gender identity classes down athletes throats and forcing them to comply. The NCLR acts as though their beliefs on this subject are absolute! Not the case. These are complex issues that have a profound effect on who an athlete chooses to become and to be honest I’d be a little concerned if the athletes themselves didn’t get a little upset. Discrimination is one thing but a policy that forces students to accept these things is quite another. The Athletes themselves have the right to decide. That and the coaches have a right to decide what’s best for their team and the students involved. This would eliminate that freedom. Not a fan, and I really hope the student body of NCAA athletes fights against this
rlmprez - October 4, 2010 at 4:30 pm
There are limits as to what colleges and universities should be required to do. This is simply a ludicrous action.
carens88 - October 4, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Just for clarity’s sake:Sexual identity is NOT the same as gender identity.Transgendered individuals are those who experience a mis-match between the gender they believe themselves to be, and their outward phenotype. Their sexual identity is variable, meaning that they may be phenotypically female, identify as male and consider themselves heterosexual. Or any combination thereof.
washingtonwarrior - October 5, 2010 at 8:30 am
jrod643 – the same thing could have been said 50-60 years ago about African-American student-athletes. You are a bigot and should be ashamed of yourself.
parsleylover - October 8, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I am getting very tired of laws and regulations which attempt to legislate human behavior. No wonder colleges and universities are having budget problems…society expects us to be all things to all people which now includes policing human behavior in all academically related venues to make sure no one’s feelings ever get hurt. where does the US constitution grant us the right to be comfortable at all times? I am all for the promotion of values which respect the rights of everyone. But I think we have gone overboard, and at huge costs by diverting monies otherwise needed to support or basic mission, in attempting to monitor, regulate, prosecute, and punish human behavior which results in hurt feelings. Worse still, we are raising a generation of wimps who cannot deal with life when things do not go their way!