One State Wants Trans Students to Take Hormones for One Year to Play Sports

[traci_k]

One State Wants Trans Students to Take Hormones for One Year to Play Sports

http://news.yahoo.com/one-state-wants-trans-students-hormones-one-play-190118316.html;_ylt=A0LEVvg6vG5WAn0AURcnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

Via Yahoo News
By Samantha Cowan | Takepart.com
Dec 13, 2015

Transgender students in Nebraska may soon be able to play on sports teams that match their gender identity—but they'll have to jump through a lot of hoops in order to do so.

The Nebraska School Activities Association decided to move forward this week with a draft policy for transgender students' inclusion in school sports, including a mandatory year of hormone therapy before competing, the Lincoln Journal Star reports. Currently, transgender students in Nebraska schools can only participate in sports that match their gender at birth.

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It will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether there are any challenges that get the feds involved. While the Executive Director of the Nebraska School Activities Association admits the policy goes against federal guidelines, he says it is in line with Midwestern values.ACLU says students should be allowed to play sports based on their gender identity and violation of that policy could result in loss of funding.

Do we have another Palatine brewing, except this time on a state level?

[Deborah]

That seems like a pretty reasonable solution to me.  Without that guideline trans girls would have a tremendously unfair advantage on the playing field.  For trans boys I'm not so sure though.  Is it possible for them to start T that early?

I'm sure the perpetually indignant ones will still find some way to cry about it though.


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[Elis]

I can definitely see your point Deb. Although what if the trans person doesn't want to take hormones for personal or health reasons, but still wants to do sports. Is it still right to exclude them? Plus some cis girls have a natural unfair advantage to others on girls teams because they may be taller or have an unusually high amount of T in their system. Where do we draw the line in having an 'unfair advantage'?

This is a good start though.

[Deborah]

If they can't take hormones, or at least blockers, then there really isn't a solution that's fair to everyone.

Personally in that case I would side with the solution that's fair to the most students.  I wouldn't let them play on the teams.


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[Eva Marie]

I think that that the court will find that "Midwestern values" < Title IX once the inevitable case gets filed.

My understanding is that doctors won't prescribe hormones for teenagers (?) although in some cases puberty blockers may be prescribed. So it seems to me that that the schools think that they have found a clever way to get around having to allow trans students from participating in sports by requiring something that is impossible to get.

This is going to be a very interesting case to watch whenever it gets to court.

[suzifrommd]

I need to admit I'm deeply troubled at the notion that in order to be fully a member of our gender and to have access to its spaces, there should be a medical litmus test.

The decision to take hormones is a deeply personal one and should not be a requirement for admittance to gendered spaces.

If the concern is that trans girls who are not on HRT are bigger/stronger/faster than other girls, are they also excluding cis girls that are bigger/stronger/faster than average? If not, i.e. if we let big/strong/fast cis girls but not big/strong/fast trans girls, that is the very definition of discrimination.

[Deborah]

Statistically, the biggest and strongest CIS girls, the top 10%, overlap the bottom 50% of males in both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.  So a more fair statement would be do they exclude girls that take anabolic steroids that give them aerobic and anaerobic capacities roughly equal to boys.  And the answer is yes, they are excluded.

Is that discrimination too? 

Furthermore, this isn't about gendered spaces.  It's about sports where aerobic and anaerobic capacity determine success.


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[Devlyn]

I wonder which team non-binary athletes would be allowed to compete on?

[traci_k]

I wonder which team non-binary athletes would be allowed to compete on?

The Chess Team

[Ms Grace]

Given that generally a trans person is expected to have GRS before they could - maybe - be allowed compete in a team of their gender identity, this is at least a step in the right direction... surely??

[Devlyn]

I wonder which team non-binary athletes would be allowed to compete on?

The Chess Team

I was going to suggest tiddly winks! 

Hugs, Devlyn

[BeverlyAnn]

I wonder which team non-binary athletes would be allowed to compete on?

Tennis.  Mixed Singles.

I believe I read also as part of this ruling, transgender students would be required to use the locker room of their birth gender.  I'm sure a trans girl who is a cheerleader will really want to change in the locker room with the football team!    What it seems to me is all of this is designed to make it extremely uncomfortable if not impossible for trans students to participate in athletics.  All the while sounding like they are trying to be accommodating.

[Oliviah]

I see it both ways.  A mtf teen on not on blockers or E playing girls basketball?  It does seem rather unfair.  I think people seeing for example a mtf dunk on a smaller girl invites animosity.  I think some separation is good.  However, we had a girl on our wrestling team and she was fierce. 

I certainly don't think there should mtf vs cis in any combat sport such as MMA or martial arts with out hormones. 

[BunnyBee]

It seems reasonable to me. It took probably two years before my strength reached it's new bottom plateau. That was about when I tried playing basketball again against somebody I used to be able to win against almost always. My strength and quickness were gone and idk if he lost one game to me. Was rather eye-opening.

[Deborah]

I had the same experience running this summer.  I found notable diminished aerobic capacity after just six months of HRT.  My top speed for a mile was over a min per mile slower than a couple of years ago on very similar training.


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[Kova V]

I rather like this idea. It kind of blows my mind that they're building legal precedent at the state level to support trans kids at school like this, especially in farm country.

Random side note, I lived in Omaha, Nebraska for five years.

[Splendid]

I don't think it's wrong for them to require that somebody medically transitions before being able to play on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity. It feels fair. Both to the trans athletes and the cis athletes. A happy medium that isn't disrespectful to either party, and is inclusive.

In the case of MtF though, I think it's only necessary that they be on blockers for a year. Doesn't necessarily have to be blockers and estrogen concurrently for a year. The blockers will do enough to bring them closer in line with the athletic ability of a cis girl of their stature and fitness level.

For FtM, I think the requirement could be more lax. Maybe T for just 6 months first, and even then, they wouldn't have any advantages over their cis male counterparts. Maybe the 1 year requirement for them is for their (the trans boys') own safety?

Either way, it's a great step forwards.

[diane 2606]

This is a difficult question. Generally I'd say let the cis girls play other cis girls. If the school is accommodating trans people in other areas that's a bonus not to be trifled with.

On the otherhand, if the trans-student has a measured body-type that's not dissimilar to the cis-gendered student-athletes, they should be allowed to participate.

[in.Chains]

I think this is a very fair compromise that allows trans people to compete, and do so as equally as possible. As someone who lifted a lot prior to transitioning (raw powerlifting total was 975lbs for squats, bench press, and deadlift), I know how difficult those numbers would be for me to ever reach again now that I've been on hormones. Without testosterone, it takes far longer and takes much more work to attain those same numbers as a woman.

[Jamie_06]

This brings up a point I'd been wondering about. Namely, I don't want to lose my strength if I transition. Is it possible to retain my strength on HRT by exercising a lot, or am I just inevitably going to get weaker?