Episode 22: Let Them Play

How do we go from The Masters to the rights of trans athletes in the span of half an hour? Well, it wasn’t easy but we did. The conversation winds from birdies and eagles and albatrosses to high school gym class, with a few odd detours (European team handball?) along the way, until we settle …

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The post Episode 22: Let Them Play appeared first on In the Shadow of the Evening Trees.

How do we go from The Masters to the rights of trans athletes in the span of half an hour? Well, it wasn’t easy but we did.

The conversation winds from birdies and eagles and albatrosses to high school gym class, with a few odd detours (European team handball?) along the way, until we settle on last week’s announcement that the US Department of Education proposed new rules on trans athletes’ eligibility to play elementary, high school, and college sports under Title IX. 

As an important caveat, it’s critical to understand that these are only proposals at this point and we do not know what the final rules will look like, but there are some legitimate concerns over the government giving sports leagues too much latitude to make the rules. For example, leagues may say that trans women and girls cannot play until they’ve undergone hormone therapy for a period of time. While this might seem like a reasonable compromise to some, in practice it would mean that league officials could effectively force trans young people to make decisions about gender affirming care that they are not prepared to make — kind of odd, given that there’s so much (likely fake) outrage about … kids undergoing gender-affirming care too soon.

And more than that, let’s face it: Youth and college sports organizations don’t really have the best track record when it comes to making decisions for kids. Think USA Gymnastics. Penn State. Ohio State. USA Volleyball. Do we want these folks dictating who should play or what gender affirming care kids should get at what age? 

They can’t police themselves; why should they police trans athletes?

In any event, there’s more to our conversation than that, but you’ll have to listen in to hear the rest! The bottom line is, our view is the same as it always has been: Let them play.

So, please enjoy to this week’s episode, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and, as always, support the rights of LGBTQIA people everywhere! And if you’re new here, you can also follow our Twitter account, @itsotetPodcast.

The post Episode 22: Let Them Play appeared first on In the Shadow of the Evening Trees.