Transgender Participation Research Articles

A history of transgender women in Australian Sports, 1976–2017

ABSTRACT Although debates about transgender women in sport have been prominent in recent years, there is a much longer history of transgender participation in sport. This article uses oral history interviews and media to examine Australia’s history of transgender women’s participation in sport since the late 1970s. It explores the public debates around gender, sex, the body, and ‘fair play discourse’ as expressed around specific transgender athletes. It also examines the lived experience of those transgender sportswomen and analyses how they used gender presentation to affirm their femininity. Indeed, gender presentation and transgender (in)visibility heavily influenced whether teammates, opponents, sporting associations, and the media accepted transgender athletes in their affirmed gender. The presence of transgender women in sport consistently exposed anxieties around gender, sex, and the body because they exposed rigid understandings of gender binarism. Examining the long history of transgender women in Australian sport reveals how longstanding debates have played out in a variety of settings, with transgender athletes regularly searching for ways to affirm their gender and navigate sporting communities.

“I’m Not an Expert, But…”: Perspectives on Aquatic Management for LGBTQ Participants

The purpose of this study was to examine the initiatives that current aquatic managers in campus recreation are implementing to create environments that are inclusive to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) participation and to assess the barriers to such initiatives. The study utilized in-depth semistructured interviews with nine campus recreation aquatic managers to examine steps that are currently being taken when it comes to creating environments that are perceived to be open, or closed, to LGBTQ participants. A grounded theory–based process of data collection and analysis resulted in emergent themes. These themes included (a) “I am not an expert but…,” (b) reactive programming and management, (c) inclusion as a general practice, and (d) the importance of gender-inclusive practices. Management strategies and implications for campus recreation aquatic managers around these emergent themes are discussed regarding the creating of inclusive environments for LGBTQ participants.

Public Attitudes about Transgender Participation in Sports: The Roles of Gender, Gender Identity Conformity, and Sports Fandom

We examine the roles of gender, gender attitudes, and interest in sports on public attitudes about transgender people’s participation in athletics. Using a representative survey of 1020 adults in the United States from 2015 and after controlling for a variety of demographic, political, and attitudinal factors, we find that women, consistent with their gender identity, are more supportive than men of transgender athletes participating in sports. In addition, we find that individuals who hold traditional gender role beliefs and those who have greater gender identity conformity with their gender are less likely to support transgender athletes’ participation. The effects of gender identity conformity and beliefs in traditional gender roles are also conditioned by respondents’ gender. Sports fans are more likely to oppose transgender athletes’ participation, and female sports fans have views that resemble those of male sports fans. Finally, respondents who have contact with transgender people and those with stronger egalitarian attitudes are more favorable toward transgender participation whereas those espousing high moral traditionalism are more opposed. Our findings highlight areas of support and resistance to transgender athletes, and our work might be helpful to policymakers, as well as advocates, who promote inclusion.

Sports Participation Policies for Transgender - A Short Review

This review scrutinizes gender uniqueness disputes in competitive sports, centering the evolution of policies relating to female and male gender confirmation and transgender participation in sport. The issues are complex and remain to contest sport governing bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, as they struggle to offer a safe environment in which transgender athletes may compete fairly and equitably.

Model High School Athletic Transgender Policy: Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Transgender Policy

Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) Transgender PolicyThis project was in response to the provincial government in Saskatchewan's request that the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) develop a policy for the inclusion of transgender student athletes in the programming of the association. The SHSAA governs athletics in the province from Grades 9 to 12. The executive that governs the association had 11 members, an executive director, and an assistant executive director. I held the role of past president during the Transgender Committee development and follow-up meetings. In developing the policy for our province, I was directed to explore the existing policies within North America and analyze them for possible use within the SHSAA framework.Initial PhilosophyThe committee developed guidelines for developing transgender inclusion policies in high school athletics including the following:1. Be proactive, avoid crisis mode. Develop a policy before a transgender student wants to try out for a team.2. Talk to athletic association leaders in the states and provinces that have adopted policies about how they have implemented their policies.3. Read about the high school policy recommendations of experts on transgender participation in sports (see Griffin & Carroll, 2010).4. Contact consultants who can assist in formulating an effective and fair policy: NCLR Sports Project (www.nclr.org), the Transgender Law Center (www.transgenderlawcenter. org), National Center for Transgender Equality (www. transequality.org).5. Always build in protections for student privacy into policy.6. Educate school athletic administrators, coaches, parents, and community about transgender students in athletics and policy.Development of a Transgender Policy CommitteeThe SHSAA developed a committee in September 2015 that included* SHSAA executive director;* SHSAA president;* SHSAA past president;* Counsellor, Sheldon Williams Collegiate, Regina; and* Counsellor, Walter Murray Collegiate, Saskatoon.Direction From Saskatchewan Provincial GovernmentIn accordance, the Government of Saskatchewan opposes all forms of prejudice, bullying, and discrimination on the basis of students' and/or teachers' actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.IntentThe Government of Saskatchewan is committed to ensuring safe school environments in which all students feel included, protected, and respected. A student-first approach means providing support for and meeting the needs of each and every student. Meeting the needs of all Saskatchewan children and adolescents is a shared responsibility. The Ministry of Education provides curricula, policy frameworks, guidelines, and funding to support schools, and boards of education develop policies for school divisions.School divisions create policies that protect the rights, safety, and freedoms of students. It is important for school divisions to evalu- ate and update existing policies on a regular basis to reflect safety and acceptance for sexually and/or gender diverse students and their allies.School divisions are encouraged to develop clear safe-school policies that explicitly include alliances, groups, or clubs for students who want to work to support each other and to create safe, caring, and inclusive spaces for students who are gender and/or sexually diverse and their allies. These alliances also create welcoming and respectful environments in which to address heterosexism, homophobia, and other forms of related discrimination. Language used in policy development should specifically include the words Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Straight, Two-Spirit, and Questioning to be inclusive of all students. Students will not be expected to identify their orientation or gender while participating in an alliance. An alliance or club should be named by the students themselves. …

Dangerous New Identity: Is Change Needed in Determining Transgender Participation in Athletics Through New Gender Identity?

This Article will address the “unfair advantage” the male-to-female athletes have over their females in sports that require a high degree of strength and power. Mixed Martial Artist Fallon Fox is a an ideal example for this issue because a high contact sport high intensity and “hyper-masculine” like Mixed Martial Arts is a good demonstration to illustrate the unfair advantage newly identified females have over their opponents after being a male, physically and legally in society for an extensive period of time. Part II of this article will summarize the policies governing transgender athlete participation in Sport. Further, this section will note some of the tests that sports governing bodies use in determining whether a transgender athlete should be identified in athletics as her newly legal gender.Part III will discuss the difference in cross-sectional musculature, hormone composition, and DNA relevant to both males and females, and discuss why even hormonal therapy and other forms of surgery that will aid in a “gender change” will still leave a natal male with a far superior athletic advantage over a male; especially done after a certain age. This article will conclude by contending a modification in the current guidelines for depicting whether a transgender should be allowed to participate.

Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Participation of Male-to-Female Transgender Persons in Preventive HIV Vaccine Clinical Trials

Observed seroincidence and prevalence rates in male-to-female (MTF) transgender individuals highlight the need for effective targeted HIV prevention strategies for this community. In order to develop an effective vaccine that can be used by transgender women, researchers must understand and address existing structural issues that present barriers to this group's participation in HIV vaccine clinical trials. Overcoming barriers to participation is important for ensuring HIV vaccine acceptability and efficacy for the MTF transgender community. To explore barriers and facilitators to MTF transgender participation in preventive HIV vaccine clinical trials, the HIV Vaccine Trials Network conducted focus groups among transgender women in four urban areas (Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco). Barriers and facilitators to engagement of transgender women in preventive HIV vaccine clinical trials led to the following recommendations: (a) transgender cultural competency training, (b) creating trans-friendly environments, (c) true partnerships with local trans-friendly organizations and health care providers, (d) protocols that focus on transgender specific issues, and (e) data collection and tracking of transgender individuals. These results have implications for the conduct of HIV vaccine trials, as well as engagement of transgender women in research programs in general.

The Ethical Duality in Sports: Social and Psychological Aspects of Transgender Participation

The Ethical Duality in Sports: Social and Psychological Aspects of Transgender ParticipationHistorically the notion about the understanding of women has been patriarchal in nature. The postmodern world has an inclination to redefine social mores. The prevailing thought in the 20th and 21st centuries supports the same thesis. The transformation of attitudes appears to be a regular phenomenon in the understanding of the issue at hand, thereby enlivening the motif of unity between the two. Gender, transgender, sexuality, etc., are in a state of transformation, so that to interpret and reinterpret a state of understanding and re-understanding of the issue of participation in sports has multiple significations. Sport in the 21st century constructs inimitable challenges for trans-athletes. A broad spectrum of identities is included under the umbrella of transgender identity. Transsexual or transitioned athletes may pose the greatest challenge to equity in sex-segregated sport competition. The subject under deliberation has a large number of interpretations, all of which center on a need to ‘deconstruct’ the present structuration of acceptance of sex and gender terminology. There is certainly a need to think and contemplate in broader terms about the meanings that assess the well-defined boundaries between disciplines of research. The present thesis highlights a deconstructive stance.

Transgender inclusion and the changing face of lesbian softball leagues

This article examines the re-negotiation of sex-based boundaries within the context of transgender/transsexual inclusion in North American lesbian softball leagues. Semi-structured interviews with transgender participants combined with participant observation have been undertaken. We focus on the ‘climate’ ( Hall and Sandler, 1982 ) for transgender participation in lesbian softball leagues that have adopted radical (non sex-binary-based) transinclusive policies. The majority of our research participants report positive experiences of inclusion and our own observations inform us that trans participation has already changed the faces of these leagues to the extent that lesbian identity is being queered: it is shifting away, at least to some degree, from assumed biological commonality to cultural affinity. Positive experiences, however, were more uniformly reported by transgender women than by transmen. A number of transmen, while reporting experiences of inclusion, expressed both personal ambivalence about participating in lesbian sporting and non-sporting spaces and a desire for fuller inclusion in the form of sensitivity and awareness concerning the use of gendered pronouns and categorical invocations. Our study documents cultural processes of sex boundary re-negotiation. As such it builds on previous scholarship ( Travers, 2006 ) that suggests that lesbian softball leagues with non-sex-binary based transinclusive policies may offer a model for queering mainstream sporting spaces away from the socially constructed categories of the two sex system.

Book Reviews

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African‐Inspired Traditions in the Americas. Randy P. Conner with David Haffield Sparks. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2004. xii + 390 pp., photographs, glossary, bibliography, index.

Randy P. Conner with David Hatfield Sparks, Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas

Randy P. Conner with David Hatfield Sparks, Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas (New York: Harrington Park Press, 2004), 390 pp., $24.95 (paper).

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-inspired Traditions in the Americas

* Foreword * Acknowledgments * Introduction * Background * Overview of Book * A Note About Terms * Chapter 1. Sources * Creole Spiritual Traditions: A Bird's-Eye View * Sexual and Gender Complexity in Yorubaland? * Other Possible African Influences * Possible Indigenous Influences of the Western Hemisphere * Chapter 2. Divinities and Spirits * Lwa of Vodou * Orishas of Yoruba-Diasporic Spiritual Traditions * Spirits of Brazil * Chapter 3. Children of the Spirits * Divine Horses * Masisi and Madivin * Bigotry in the Vodou Community * A Bridge of the Spirits * Ades, Ekedes, and Others * Practitioners of Lucumi/Santeria and Related Religions * Drag Queens, Transgender Persons, Transsexuals * Prohibitions and Discrimination with Yoruba-Diasporic and Allied Communities * Divination and Interpretation * Challenges and Transformations * Relationships and Ceremonies of Union * HIV/AIDS, Afro Ashe, and Odo Ya * Notions of Self in African-Inspired Spiritual Traditions * Chapter 4. Snapshots * Practitioners of Vodou * Practitioners of Lucumi/Santeria/Regla de Ocha, and Other Cuban- and Puerto Rican-Linked Traditions * Practitioners of Candomble and Other Brazilian Traditions * Practioners of Orisha Reverence, the Ifa Tradition, and Bridge-Builders * Chapter 5. To Make the Spirit Manifest * Literature * Music * Visual Arts * Conclusion * Appendix A. Questionnaire * Appendix B. Interviews and Correspondence * Glossary * Bibliography * Index * Reference Notes Included

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas

Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas

Transgender Politics in the UK

This article develops notions of transgender citizenship in relation to existing approaches to citizenship, including liberalism, neoliberalism and communitarianism. Changes relating to New Labour's Third Way provide some support for transgender citizenship. However, these are limited because New Labour has yet to fully support gender diversity, to embrace different forms of morality, to tackle underlying structural inequalities and to develop sufficiently strong mechanisms for participation. The article argues that a robust participatory democracy is necessary for ensuring transgender political participation and social inclusion. Full transgender citizenship would lead to fundamental changes in the social organization of gender and social policy positions concerning gender.