Bethany Brookens, an assistant commissioner at CHSAA, speaks about the association’s transgender policy on Wednesday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
BOSTON — Bethany Brookens, an assistant commissioner at CHSAA, teamed with Vermont’s Bob Johnson to give a presentation on developing a transgender policy during the NFHS’s annual summer meeting on Wednesday.
Brookens has worked on CHSAA’s policy after it was created by former assistant commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green — now the executive director in Nebraska — and Eddie Hartnett, a CHSAA board member and chair of the equity committee.
Along with Johnson — the associate executive director of the Vermont Principals’ Association, which oversees high school athletics in that state — Brookens spoke to a packed room on transgender issues, including simply defining terms such as transgender male and female.
“These definitions are constantly changing, constantly evolving — and so will your policy,” Brookens said.
CHSAA’s bylaw, 300.3, reads:
The Colorado High School Activities Association recognizes the right of transgender student-athletes to participate in interscholastic activities free from unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation. In order to insure appropriate gender assignment for purposes of athletic eligibility, a transgender student-athlete’s home school will perform a confidential evaluation to determine the gender assignment for the prospective student-athlete. The CHSAA will review athletic eligibility decisions based on gender assignment of transgender student-athletes in accordance with its approved policies and appeals procedures.
In creating Colorado’s policy, “We wanted to not be reactive, but instead proactive,” Brookens said. “We did not have a specific case that came to our office. Rhonda and Eddie both identified this as an emerging issue around the country.”
CHSAA’s transgender policy was approved by the legislative council in April 2010. Brookens, Hartnett and Alex Halpen, CHSAA’s legal counsel, then revised the policy in August 2013. Vermont’s policy was created in November 2010.
“It’s very important to get buy in from your membership, but not worry about getting everyone on board,” Brookens said. “When we presented to our membership, the response was very positive. But I will tell you, unfortunately, the mentality at that time was, ‘We don’t want to talk about that.’
“Since then, numerous kids have come forward, and schools have been so thankful to have a policy in place to look to for guidance.”
Both policies from Colorado and Vermont allow students to compete with the gender they identify with. Colorado’s requires a “clear and consistent identity,” Brookens said. However, it does not require hormone therapy or a surgery in order to participate in athletics.
“Under no circumstances do we require hormones or a procedure of any kind,” Brookens said.
The NCAA’s policy does require hormone therapy to occur for at least one year prior to participation.
“One thing you have to remember about the NCAA is that their policy is designed for adults,” Johnson said.
Added Brookens: “We’re talking about 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds versus 14- and 15-year-olds.
The NCAA’s policy could “have implications for any transgender athletes in your states,” Brookens added. “They might have to make a decision on hormone treatment (during high school) should they want to play in college.”
Johnson’s group consulted with a psychiatrist, among other professionals, in creating Vermont’s policy. At that time, the psychiatrist said, “If anybody in any state thinks this isn’t occurring in their state, they’re wrong. This is happening at the high school level, the middle school level, the elementary school level.”
Both Brookens and Johnson said a concern raised with allowing transgender students to compete was one of competitive imbalance. For example, if a 6-foot-6, 215-pound transgender female (male-to-female) were to compete in volleyball.
“It’s unfair for us to assume that a kid would be undergoing this transition — and a very personal, deep-rooted belief — just to get a competitive advantage,” Brookens said.
Ultimately, both states developed transgender policies in order to be more inclusive.
“We want every student to be able to participate,” Brookens said. “Traditionally, the students that are going through the transgender process tend to be off to their own, and we all know the advantages to students being active and involved in teams.”