Transgender student-athlete rights in the United States

Inclusive policies create athletic opportunities for transgender student-athletes, which align with their gender identities. These inclusive policies promote athletic participation by transgender students. Participation in interscholastic activities is a valuable part of the education experience for all students (Griffin & Carroll, 2010). Transgender youth have a higher risk of isolation, truancy, harassment, and suicide rates but interscholastic sport offers benefits of psychological resiliency, feelings of connectedness, and positive self-image (Buzuvis, 2016; see Kosciw, Greytak, Giga, Villenas, & Danischewski, 2016). Thus, the inclusive policies are vital to the health and safety of transgender youth. However, the inclusion of transgender student-athletes creates issues of fair play, injury concerns and decreased athletic opportunities for female athletes. In other words, there is a fear that a transgender male competing against females would have physiological advantages that may lead to competitive success, potential harm to the female competitors, and take athletic opportunities away from females. The US law affecting transgender student-athletes is very much unsettled with a great deal of overlapping jurisdictions. Federal and state laws as well as municipal ordinances have been enacted that impact transgender athletes. There are also school districts and state high school sport association rules, and NCAA regulations that control the eligibility of the transgender student-athletes. While many of these policies increase access for transgender students, others limit it. This presentation reviews the overlapping jurisdictions by analyzing the athletic transgender issue from legal and sociological perspectives.

Keywords:

Transgender , student-athlete , rights