Trans triathlete Chris Mosier has found nothing but welcoming arms from his Empire Tri Club, which is not LGBT. It’s been the LGBT sports leagues where he has faced sometimes overt discrimination. He writes for Original Plumbing:
In designated LGBT sports spaces, I have encountered problem after problem, and an unwillingness or lack of effort to correct them. …
The facility they use for one sport has men’s and women’s locker rooms. Many of the players had played with me when I was in the league before transition, and not much about me had changed beyond pronouns. I had not used a female facility in over a year, but a male coworker is also in the league and the thought of that awkward moment stopped me from using the men’s locker room for the rest of the season. One solution offered to me was to “go to McDonalds to change and come back.”
They found another place for me to change but it was on another floor in a restricted area.
Mosier also describes a situation with a gay bowling league in which he was called a “tranny,” and his complaint was met with a pat response.
Amazing that a “straight” sports organization could handle a trans athlete better than a “gay” sports league.
I’m so proud that the New York Gay Football League, which I co-founded, now has a trans athlete as its commissioner (and has for years). All trans people in New York are welcome in the football league; You won’t find this kind of discrimination there.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 2:50 PM
As a member of the organization Chris rights about I’m fairly ashamed at how the issue at the bowling alley was handled.
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 3:11 PM
Apparently I was too ashamed to type properly. *writes, not rights
on Feb 3rd, 2012 at 5:49 PM
I’m really sorry to hear that about Chris. Hopefully, the leaders of the BAD group which runs the bowling league can turn things around. :+(
I had a question about the NYGFL. It’s split into 2 leagues: Open div (primarily for men) and the new women league. The women’s league does not accept men but would this be discriminatory for pre-op male-to-female transgender persons?
Can a non profit sports league rejects a membership request based on gender or perceived gender identification?
Thx!!! :+)
on Feb 5th, 2012 at 12:18 PM
“The women’s league does not accept men but would this be discriminatory for pre-op male-to-female transgender persons?”
Wouldn’t that be decided based on how far a long you were in your transition? I mean if you still have male levels of testosterone, wouldn’t that give you a distinct advantage over double-X women? I mean the reasons for sex-segregated athletic divisions is clear: The distinct advantage that males have over women in athletic competition.
Yes, yes, I know, there are excellent athletic women who can outperform modestly athletic men, but cumulatively men will consistently out perform women. Just look at men’s world records in track and field, and compare them to women’s world records in track and field, and that will show you why they are segregated. In fact, high school male sprint records are generally better than the world records for elite females.
So, for every person with a Y chromosome competing in a women’s event, is an opportunity denied a double-X woman. However, a trans woman athlete who has her hormones regulated should be allowed in women’s sports because at that point, she no longer retains the advantage that her Y chromosome would naturally endow her with.
Sex segregated athletic events aren’t about discrimination, they are about opportunity, one that wouldn’t exist for the vast majority of women athletes if it weren’t so segregated.
on Mar 13th, 2012 at 1:33 PM
I’m sure I don’t need to point this out, but pre-op transexuals still have opposite-sex genitalia. There should be a third area so that the feelings of all 3 groups are not hurt. We can’t even get rights for glb – so the t is definitely an advanced topic.