Transgender Students Push For High School Sports To Be More Inclusive

May 7, 2013 /
Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/07/transgender_students_press_high_school_athletics_to_become_more_inclusive/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

A small but growing number of transgender students in the United States have begun to try out for their high school sports teams, leading schools to revise athletics regulations to become more inclusive.

Following the example of the International Olympic Committee and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, school boards and state lawmakers across the country are taking steps to craft policies to allow transgender students to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identities.

As reported the New York Times:

More than half a dozen states, from Washington to Massachusetts, have adopted rules to allow transgender students to compete on teams that correspond with their gender identities rather than the sex listed on their school records. Half a dozen more states are considering similar regulations. And a bill in the Legislature would make California the first to specifically guarantee by law that transgender students… are allowed to play school sports.

“Transgender students deserve equal access to everything in public education, including sports,” said Tom Ammiano, the state assemblyman sponsoring the bill. “You can’t discriminate just because you’re uncomfortable with a young man transitioning to become a young woman.”

The International Olympic Committee and the National Collegiate Athletic Association require trans athletes to undergo sexual reassignment surgery and hormone therapy before being allowed to compete, but high school guidelines vary. No state currently requires a transgender student to undergo surgery; California only requires a letter from the student expressing their gender identity for their case to be reviewed by the school’s athletics board.


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