"Should Sex Reassignment Surgery Be Required for Transgender High School Athletes?"
On Wednesday [2/19/14], the Virginia High School League (VHSL) approved a motion that would seem to be spectacular news: Transgender athletes across the state can now participate in high school sports teams in accordance with their gender identity. “It is a reality that there are transgender students who are interested in participating in athletics,” Ken Tilley, executive director of the VHSL, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “It’s something we recognize we need to be of service to our schools and our students.”
Opening sports to transgender teens is a terrific step given the self-esteem benefits that come through inclusion and teamwork—so it’s a pity about the caveats in this case. As it stands, transgender participation in Virginia is contingent on a set of very specific conditions: that a “student-athlete has undergone sex reassignment before puberty”; or that a student-athlete has undergone sex reassignment after puberty, including hormonal therapy and “external genitalia changes and gonadectomy.” If a student-athlete ceases hormonal therapy after puberty, they will be required to switch back to the team “consistent with their birth gender.”
Wow!
