10/03/2011 – by Cynthia Wright
A lot of the concern over the status of transgender students in sports came to light when George Washington University student Kye Allums made it known that she was a transgendered man playing for a woman’s team. Even though Allums was worried about losing his scholarship, he no longer wanted to hide his true self.
Kye Allums
While many didn’t know how to approach the topic when it came to his athletics, this issue has caused the National Collegiate Athletic Association to further clarify the ways being trans affects college-level athletics.
Now that the NCAA has approved an important policy clarifying opportunities for transgender student athletes to participate on college athletic teams in accordance with their gender identity. The NCAA, which governs sports for more than 1,200 colleges and institutions, worked closely with the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ Sports Project and Griffin Educational Consulting to develop the policy. Under this developed policy:
• A transgender male student athlete who has a medical exception for testosterone hormone therapy may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing the team status to a mixed team.
• A transgender female student athlete who has taken medication to suppress testosterone for a year may compete on a women’s team.
Transgender student athletes who are not undergoing hormone therapy remain eligible to play on teams based on the gender of their birth sex and may socially transition by dressing and using the appropriate pronouns that match their gender identity.
Along with the new guidelines, the report offers suggestions on ways to welcome new transgendered students that have an interest in playing sports. The NCAA sportsmanship policy has also barred any type of transphobic language fromgames.