-
New state guidelines for transgender students and school sport
From an article in The Age 21/Jan/2016
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/new-state-guidelines-for-transgender-students-and-school-sport-20160121-gmb30g.htmlQuote:Victorian schools will soon have to follow strict new participation guidelines aimed at tackling discrimination against transgender students in sport.Transgender students are often excluded from girls and boys teams, and can spend years on the sidelines while their classmates play sport.
“The common experience is that transgender and gender-diverse students stop taking part in sport because they feel too uncomfortable,” Safe Schools Coalition Victoria co-founder Roz Ward said.
“We want schools to make it very clear that they can continue to be involved.”
Ms Ward has been working with the Education Department to update the inclusion policy for School Sport Victoria, the peak body for school sport in the state.
For the first time, it will explicitly mention transgender and gender diverse students.
Female transgender athletes – who were assigned male at birth – have a particularly difficult time because of perceived competitive advantages, Ms Ward said.
“There is a perception that so-called male bodies are physically superior.”
She said schools should organise non-gendered teams and sports activities when possible.
In Victoria, it is illegal to discriminate against a person in sport on the basis of their gender identity, except in a few situations. Single-sex sporting competitions may lawfully discriminate on the basis of a person’s sex or gender identity if “strength, stamina or physique is relevant”.
-
0 Replies
Sorry, there were no replies found.