LGBTQ Breaking News Service

The NCAA has reached a delicate moment: It must decide whether to punish states that have passed laws limiting the participation of transgender athletes by barring them from hosting its softball and baseball tournaments.

Legislation requiring athletes to compete in interscholastic sports according to their sex at birth has been introduced in dozens of states this year, and governors have signed bills in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia. The Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia laws also cover college sports teams.

The NCAA Board of Governors issued a statement April 12 saying it “firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports.”

“When determining where championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected,” the board added. “We will continue to closely monitor these situations to determine whether NCAA championships can be conducted in ways that are welcoming and respectful of all participants.”

Last week, the NCAA announced a preliminary list of 20 schools being considered to host the early round of the NCAA softball tournament; the 16 regional sites will be announced when the field is unveiled May 16. The 20 potential regional sites for baseball will be announced next week and that list will be pared to 16 on May 31.

Three of the possible softball hosts — Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee — are in states with signed transgender sports bans.

“This is kind of where the rubber meets the road for the NCAA,” said Mac McCorkle, a Duke University professor of public policy.

Karen Weaver, a former college field hockey coach and athletic administrator now on the faculty at Penn, called the NCAA statement as “wishy washy as you can get.”

Weaver said the NCAA is in a precarious position because of separate, highly charged issues that are likely to impact its bedrock amateurism model: it is depending on Congress to create legislation allowing athletes to make money on use of their name, image or likeness. The Supreme Court also is considering a case weighing whether the NCAA’s prohibition on compensation for college athletes violates federal antitrust law.

The NCAA’s statement on transgender sports bans was “carefully worded,” Weaver said, “and I think it’s a tenuous time to be taking any kind of stance that might be viewed as political because they’re trying to craft their future in the Congress and Senate with the NIL legislation.”

“They’re trying to not tick off any potential folks who might vote for something that benefits the NCAA the most,” Weaver said.

Jeff Altier, the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee chairman and the athletic director at Stetson, said last month that his committee had been given no directive to exclude any school from consideration for hosting a regional.

Altier referred other questions to the NCAA. Gail Dent, spokeswoman for the Board of Governors, did not respond to questions about the NCAA’s willingness to pull events out of states with bans.

“It’s surprising the NCAA would say one thing, that they are monitoring it, and then select site locations that are in areas of the country that are doing anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ legislation,” said Shane Windmeyer, founder and executive director of Campus Pride, a national organization advocating for safer college environments for LGBT students.

Windmeyer said the NCAA’s Office of Inclusion has been an ally. He said Campus Pride and similar organizations have received grants from the NCAA to fund diversity and inclusion summits and other programming.

The NCAA has had policies in place since 2011 that allow for transgender participation in sports. Testosterone suppression treatment is required for transgender women to compete in women’s sports.

Last year, following the Southeastern Conference’s lead, the NCAA announced it would not hold championship events in Mississippi unless a depiction of the Confederate flag was removed from the state flag. The Mississippi Legislature acted swiftly to remove the symbol.

In 2016, the NCAA made good on its threat to pull championship events out of North Carolina in response to the “bathroom bill,” which required transgender people to use restrooms according to their sex at birth and not their gender identity. Greensboro lost first- and second-round games in the men’s basketball tournament in 2017; they were moved to Greenville, South Carolina. The law was repealed before the NCAA could take away more events.

“When they got involved with the bathroom bill in North Carolina, that was, in my opinion, a bold step for them,” Weaver said. “I’m not seeing that same enthusiasm right now.”

The NCAA traditionally selects baseball and softball regional sites based on a team’s performance as well as quality of facilities and financial considerations. This year, potential sites were pre-determined because each must be evaluated for its ability to meet the NCAA’s COVID-19 protocols.

Four of the top five teams in this week’s D1Baseball.com Top 25 — No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Mississippi State and No. 5 Tennessee — ordinarily would be considered shoo-ins to be regional hosts. The four schools confirmed to The Associated Press they submitted bids to host but declined interview requests on the topic of the NCAA’s decision.

Since 2000, the home team has won 67.5% of baseball regionals and there is money to be made, too. A University of Arkansas study showed baseball fans visiting the Fayetteville area spent about $2 million during a three-day regional in 2018, excluding cost of tickets and in-stadium purchases.

The NCAA is limiting attendance to 50% of stadium capacity at its spring sports championships because of the pandemic, so the windfall won’t be as great this year.

For now, everyone waits to see the next step on site selections from the NCAA, which has referred all questions to the Board of Governors statement.

“Speaking as a consultant, you can say to the NCAA, ‘Oh well, you made this problem, you shouldn’t have said anything,'” McCorkle said. “I don’t know how they navigate it, but I don’t think there’s any way to have avoided this.”

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This story has been updated to correct Weaver’s employer to Penn, not Penn State.

Six point eight million: that’s the number of children who are already students in school systems with trans-inclusive policies in place, allowing transgender students to play on teams with their correct gender. Throughout these systems, few to no issues have arisen. These school systems use their policies to create an all-inclusive environment for both cisgender and transgender youths in their athletic programs, all while maintaining a level playing field.

Recently, several states have passed or proposed bills banning transgender students from playing in-school sports on teams with their correct gender, instead forcing them to play as the gender they were assigned at birth.

Shannon Clawson, the Outreach Manager at Georgia Equality, calls these bills “solutions in search of a problem,” comparing them to the slew of bathroom ban bills that were proposed several years ago, such as the HB2 bill in North Carolina.

Clawson also emphasized that allowing transgender children to participate in school sports as their correct gender not only helps to affirm their gender identity and make them feel safe and welcomed in a supporting environment, but also has the same benefits that school sports have for any other student. They create tight-knit friend groups which can foster a safe space for students as well as teaching leadership, teamwork, and decision-making skills which have real world benefits throughout life. Allowing transgender children to participate on the correct teams can also help benefit their mental health, which is key for transgender children. According to the CDC, “35% of trans students have already attempted suicide by the time they reach high school.” According to Clawson, “the last thing we need are policies that further isolate and stigmatize these children.”

Many politicians have claimed that these bills are here to increase fairness and are being drafted in order to “protect” cisgender female athletes, but Clawson points out that the best way to help female athletes would be to provide better funding for their programs, increase Title IX reporting, and support female coaches. Many of these bills require that students “confirm their gender.” While the bills are not particularly clear about the processes that would be used to confirm a child’s gender, Clawson points out that these bills state nothing about intersex children or cisgender children who do not conform to traditional gender stereotypes. Any child going through puberty is prone to body image issues and insecurities regardless of their gender identity, and being forced to go through invasive examinations or submit personal medical records could be a traumatizing experience that could stay with a child as they develop.

Many of the bills recently passed or proposed have also targeted the medical treatment of transgender children. According to a BBC World News report, a recent ban passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate in Arkansas (despite being vetoed by the Republican governor for being what he deemed a “vast government overreach”) “in effect bans doctors from providing puberty blockers, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment.”

When commenting on these medical bans, Clawson says that these types of bans are the “hardest on transgender children and parents.” Treatment that can help put off the effects of puberty for transgender children is lifesaving, and criminalizing the doctors who provide this essential care to these children helps no one. Clawson says that encouraging doctors to practice in the rural areas of states like Arkansas or Georgia is already difficult enough. Stacking additional legislation against medical professionals does no favors for any politician or constituent seeking a sound medical system in their area.

These bans may seem to be about fairness on the surface, but they are simply working to alienate a small, already vulnerable portion of the population. Treating transgender students as their correct gender from 8am to 3pm, only to treat them as their incorrect gender from 3pm to 5pm, creates a confusing, nonaffirming, and potentially hostile environment. It sends the message to all students that transgender students are not to be treated with respect.

These bans seem to be Republican representatives using buzz words and hot topics to gain support from their followers by perpetuating their fight against trans inclusion in public spaces. Now that the bathroom ban bills have fizzled out, they’re moving on to infringing upon the rights of minors. These bills are harmful not only to transgender children, but to communities, athletic programs, and medical systems as a whole, and they need to stop now.

Most high school baseball teams hope to find one or two pitchers to carry them through the regular season and into the playoffs. Wylie has a whole stable of them.

The Bulldogs enter the postseason with so many options to put on the mound, the biggest problem often is how to get them all work.

“I think that’s the most impressive thing, whenever they’re called on they’re ready to go,” Wylie coach Grant Martin said. “That goes back to their preparation, their planning for when they do get the opportunity. But hats off to them, knowing with that many arms it’s tough to get them in. But they’ve done well and done well in different situations.”

Throughout district play, Dash Albus and Brooks Gay have handled the starting duties Tuesdays and Fridays, respectively. The pair have helped set the tone for the other pitchers who might get some innings.

Albus has put together an impressive high school career, giving Wylie (20-7) a chance to win when he steps on the mound.

“Dash, we looked at it, he’s 21-2 now (in the regular season),” Martin said. “Every time he steps on the mound, it’s how he works through adversity, how he battles and adjusts. … He’s done a great job where if he’s needed to settle down, he’s settled down. And he’s a really smart pitcher when it comes to what he wants to throw and what he’s confident in.”

But in the playoffs, the intensity is ramped up.

The Bulldogs will feel that when they open their three-game, Region I-5A bi-district series against Plainview with Games 1 and 2 in Lamesa, starting at 1 p.m. Friday.

“The playoffs are next level. Everybody’s more intense, everybody wants to be there,” Albus said. “You’re not just playing two games a week, you’re playing to keep playing. That’s the mindset you have to go into it with.”

Gay is one of the juniors Wylie puts on the mound, but he started as a freshman and has the experience go to with his ability and success has followed.

“(Gay’s) done a great job and I think that started this offseason, getting in the weight room preparing for this season very well,” Martin said. “Good arm care, use for him. He’s gotten bigger, he’s maturing and he’s growing. What he’s done this year has been fabulous, but again, he’s pitched well for us in the past. For him, one more year of having confidence on the mound has helped him get out there and perform the way that he has.”

One arm the Bulldogs haven’t been able to use much this year is ACU signee Walker Piland. Injuries have limited his work, but he has gotten in games the past two weeks.

“I’ve only pitched eight innings this year, but I’ve gotten a little experience (this year),” Piland said. “I’ve pitched in the past in the playoffs and district my sophomore year. It’s been tough, but I keep going and keep playing hard and whenever my name’s called, be ready to go.”

That comes with talent, but it also comes with the willingness to work even when he knew he wasn’t able to pitch.

“Over the last two weeks, the times he has come in and pitched for us he’s done a great job,” Martin said. “He’s a guy that’s always ready. I think the way he prepares and the way he’s in a situation where he gets himself ready. He puts a lot of work into it and it definitely shows when he goes out there.”

After those three, it’s a case of pick-your-poison.

The Bulldogs can use Jaxon Hansen, Cooper Hrbacek, Dante Cano or Grayson Bearden. Reed Hughes has been on the mound this season, too.

“The fact of the matter is, you don’t know when you’re going to go in, you don’t know when we’re going to call your name and you’re ready says something about the kids,” Martin said. “Whether they’re starting or coming in in relief, they’ve been great. It’s definitely been a strong suit for us this year, no doubt. … They’re all team guys, so they understand it, understand the big picture and what’s expected of them. That’s a huge, huge deal for our team.”

It also takes pressure off whoever starts. Every starter wants to pitch a complete game. But it isn’t all on the starters’ shoulders, or arm.

“You want to go as long as you can, but if you can only give four innings you’ve got 10 other guys that can come in and get the job done,” Albus said. “It’s a big relief knowing that.”

And in a three-game series, there aren’t many teams who can match the Bulldogs arm-for-arm over a possible 21 innings.

“It’s great how much depth we have with our pitching staff, but this whole team’s got so much talent that you’ve got to do your job the best you can and if it’s not your day they’ve got your back,” Gay said. “We’re not one of those teams that’s going to want to play a one-game playoff.”

Piland headlines the senior class that has had eight players sign. That includes Albus (Temple College), Hansen (Angelina) and Hrbacek (McLennan) while Cano, a junior, is committed to Texas Tech. Gay plans on narrowing down his options, and possibly making a decision, this summer. 

They pitch to Landon Williams, who is committed to Louisiana Lafayette. That’s a lot of college talent in the Wylie battery, no matter who is on the mound. But it’s not something the Bulldogs dwell on.

“I think it’s just an added bonus,” Piland said. “It’s cool, knowing that half the team is going to play college baseball, but we’re still focused as a team and have to play the way we know how to play.”

The Bulldogs have also been battle tested through a tough District 4-5A slate that included three games against each opponent. 

District champion Lubbock-Cooper is No. 3 in the latest Diamond Pro/THSB 5A top 25 poll, Wylie is No. 18 and third-place Lubbock Coronado is tied for 25th entering the postseason. It wasn’t just them, but every team proved it could be a tough game each time out.

“That goes back to our district. They’ve pitched in (big) games before, but being ready to pitch against every opponent,” Martin said. “They’ve done a good job of getting ready to go. That’s been helpful and big for us to have to prepare two times a week for those teams we’re going to play. They’ve done a good job, knowing when they’re going to go. And the ability for us to give them some rest, not spike their pitch counts, has been nice their last two outings.”

There’s a shift when games go from nondistrict to district and another shift going into the playoffs. Even so, the game doesn’t change.

“We’ve got to keep it rolling,” Gay said. “It’s important to know that it’s the next step, it’s do or die. But it’s still baseball. You just go out there and do the best you can. … This time of year, we’re doing everything we can to win these games. We have to keep the mindset on right now and right now it’s playoffs.”

Jordan Hofeditz covers Abilene high schools and colleges, Big Country schools and other local sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jhofeditz. If you appreciate locally drive news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

Chances are, you’ve met someone, know someone or have heard of someone who’s transgender.

About 2,900 transgender adults live in El Paso County, according to an analysis by the local chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, better known as PFLAG.

For a few more days, a simplistic yet impactful billboard on the West Colorado Avenue bridge will display the statistic, to help normalize and familiarize residents with the transgender community.

“Our hope is that it will promote conversations as people drive by,” said Karen Stith, president of the local PFLAG group, which has about 70 members and more than 400 supporters.

A local family and their transgender child designed the billboard, which says, “Someone you know is transgender,” and presents the county statistic.

The awareness-raiser is a first for PFLAG.

“We try to be visible, but we’ve never done anything this big and flashy before,” Stith said. “We accumulated enough money to have a billboard and thought it was a really good use of our funds to get the word out about transgender people.”

 PFLAG began on a national level as a nonprofit support organization in 1983, and the local chapter was founded in 1994.

Estimates on the numbers of transgender people vary. A 2016 report from the Williams Institute concluded that up to 0.8% of American adults identify as transgender.

Danette Tritch, coordinator of the TransParent group at Inside Out Youth Services in Colorado Springs and the mother of an adult child who is transgender, said more current statistics report up to 2% of the adult population identifies as transgender.

A number she said is perhaps more meaningful is that one in six children in a typical classroom would benefit from “representation in books and materials of the LGBTQ community,” suggesting a parent or other relative or the child identifies with the entire LGBTQ community.

A transgender person is someone whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex.

Many transgender people receive hormone therapy to alter their physical characteristics, some have surgery and most dress in the clothing that complies with their personal identity.

Although civil and personal rights for LGBTQ people have improved in recent years, the trans community struggles with acceptance, discrimination and harassment, both Stith and Tritch said.

“The emotional stress on trans people is extraordinary,” said Stith, who has an adult lesbian daughter. “Gays and lesbians have become so common and part of our society, but the trans people are where gay people were 40 years ago — they’re being rejected out of hand.”

Under the leadership of a gay governor, Colorado’s lawmakers have advanced LGBTQ causes, but many states are going in the opposite direction, Tritch said.

Legislators in conservative states, including Texas Montana, Arkansas and Florida, are banning trans participation in sports, use of bathrooms and locker rooms and “trans-affirming” medical treatments for youth under age 18, she said.

More than 80 restrictive state bills are in various stages of becoming laws, Tritch said.

That means “2021 will be on record as the historically worst year for bad LGBTQ bills, most of which are trans-related,” she said.

On the Congressional stage, the Equality Act, which the House of Representatives passed in February but has not been up for a vote in the U.S. Senate, would create a protected class in all states, including the 27 that, according to the Human Rights Campaign, do not have LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws.

The bill would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and substantially expand protected areas to cover not only housing, employment and healthcare but also “public accommodations.”

That would include retail stores, transportation systems and stadiums, for example, and federally funded programs.

Opponents cite infringement on religious rights as a concern.

PFLAG members hope that the billboard will provoke reflection and the realization that “transgender people deserve the same rights as other people and that instead of being discriminated against should be valued and celebrated by all of us,” Stith said.

The billboard will be up through May 11.