To:
Saturday, July 29, 2023 | 2:11pm
High school principals in Pennsylvania are required under PIAA rules to identify transgender athletes as male or female, while other states empower health care providers or issue student birth certificates. I use it to make decisions.
PIAA Executive Director Bob Lombardi said there is no national consensus on how to determine the gender of high school athletes, and his staff recently surveyed policies adopted by other state sports associations. The current PIAA policy faces intense scrutiny following the inclusion of a transgender girl in the medal stands for the first time at PIAA’s State Athletics Championships.
The PIAA Women’s Athletics Steering Committee took up the issue at a recent summer meeting but did not recommend any changes.
“There was a discussion[in the committee]about what is best practice,” Lombardi said. “And looking at this survey, no one has a better answer than this.”
The PIAA notes that while 12 state athletic associations rely on the judgment of school administrators for gender assignment, 20 other associations determine gender themselves through a variety of methods based on medical records and input from physicians. revealed that there is
Twelve states use the gender listed on a student’s birth certificate. Lombardi said two states simply accept students’ self-identified gender, but five groups had no transgender policy.
PIAA surveyed sports associations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
PIAA’s Gender Policy consists of a single sentence of the Code. “If a student’s gender is questionable or unknown, the principal’s decision regarding the student’s gender will be accepted by her PIAA.”
The policy was discussed at the PIAA’s Gender and Minority Equality Committee meeting online on June 21. The next day, the PIAA Women’s Athletics Steering Committee took up the issue, again without recommending a change of policy.
Mr. Lombardi viewed inaction as a measure of support for the current PIAA approach.
“When principals meet with parents and students to review medical, psychiatric, and all other types of records and make decisions, they feel that the decisions are based on up-to-date information. I think,” Lombardi said. . “And that decision should dictate the day.”
Still, not everyone agreed.
Lombardi said some members of the Women’s Sports Commission are concerned that transgender athletes will affect girls’ physical activity opportunities. For example, in track and field, only a limited number of athletes are eligible to compete in championships.
“There are concerns that women’s participation will be restricted,” Lombardi said. “But on the other hand, there is also the argument that we want to be inclusive. .
“Can you see the circle?”
“This is clearly unfair.”
Chenango pitching coach Matt Callahan was also disappointed by the PIAA’s inaction.
She said two girls from Chenango were being adversely affected by the current policy when they were competing in a competition involving transgender athletes this spring. One of the girls was one spot short of qualifying for the state championship, and the other finished ninth, just one short of a medal at the state competition.
Callaghan said the current PIAA policy is not fair to them.
“If you ask me about PIAA’s view on sports, I would say it’s a program about fairness,” he says. “They have always tried to level the playing field. , and taking no action against it is a little concerning to me.”
Callahan, a physical therapist, said PIAA should join states that take a physiological approach with independent physicians and medical standards.
“I want to see something different, and I think it starts with having qualified people define if they are male or female,” he said. “Listen, I love principals…but principals are the kind of people who decide, ‘Is this a boy or a girl?’ not.”
Response by state
The participation of transgender athletes, especially in women’s sports, is controversial in both high school and college athletics. It’s also become a political issue, with some state legislatures passing outright bans, while the Biden administration is proposing Title IX changes that could counter these restrictions.
The National Association of High School Associations, the governing body of high school sports, neither endorses nor mandates a transgender policy for its members.
That led to state-by-state responses.
Among Pennsylvania’s neighbors, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has taken a science-driven approach, adopting a five-page policy that delves into the physiology of transgender athletes.
In order to participate in women’s sports in Ohio, OHSAA requires transgender women to “complete at least one year of sex reassignment-related hormone therapy” or “absence of physical (physical) sex.” to the Office of the Director-General by solid medical evidence.” bone structure, muscle mass, testosterone, hormones, etc.) or physiological advantage over genetic women in the same age group. “
Similarly, transgender men who started medically prescribed testosterone treatment said, “The muscle mass developed as a result of this testosterone treatment does not exceed that typical of adolescent genetic boys. ” and hormone levels should be monitored. doctor every six months.
Lombardi said it would be “very” difficult to hold the PIAA accountable for gender determination. He questioned whether state sports associations could have the necessary expertise to analyze medical standards and current treatment practices.
“It’s really very complicated,” he said.
Guidelines issued by the Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association say transgender students must be able to compete according to their gender identity, but local schools are responsible for establishing a screening process.
According to the MPSSAA, “local school systems should establish appeals committees on a case-by-case basis when questions arise about the legitimacy of requests to participate in sports activities according to a student’s gender identity.” is” policy.
One member of the committee must be “a physician, psychologist, or certified mental health professional familiar with sexual disorders and standard treatments.”
Lombardi said the state associations that use birth certificates to determine gender largely follow state law. West Virginia has passed a state law banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, but the bill is bound by the courts and has not been enforced.
Competitive fairness and student well-being
WPIAL Executive Director Scott Seltzer said he believes there are at least two sides to the problem. PIAA and he have the competitive fairness WPIAL was founded to maintain, but also the well-being of transgender students.
“It’s a complicated issue because you have to include[the students’]mental health,” Seltzer said. “We have kids who wake up every day and they don’t like what they see in the mirror. …The old adage is, they couldn’t compete as boys, they will now compete and succeed as girls.” I don’t think any transgender student thinks like that.
“I sympathize with students who are not happy with who they are. They need a support system to keep them from hurting themselves.”
Seltzer said he didn’t know how that would translate into PIAA policy. However, as a former high school principal and deputy superintendent, she said school administrators do not take students’ requests for recognition as transgender lightly.
“I have the necessary documents,” he said. “You can’t have a kid come into the office and say, ‘By the way, I’m changing my gender.’ There’s a process.”
Changes to the PIAA policy can be initiated at the committee level but will ultimately require board approval. Lombardi said the board was monitoring the issue but wasn’t sure if it was urgent.
“We really only had one[transgender state qualifier]here,” he said. “We don’t have statistics on transgender children. We don’t ask. I don’t know how many are out there.”
Two related PIAA committees took no action last month to rewrite their policies, but their debates about transgender athletes are probably not over. Lombardi said a “final answer” may not have been reached.
“This is difficult because the members of the committee have very strong feelings about women’s athletics and its promotion,” he said. “We all feel that way, especially when it comes to supporting Title IX. But in the same way, many feel that athletics should be open to everyone. It’s a place of contact.”
Chris Harlan is a review staff writer for the Tribune. Chris can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter. .
