The topic of transgender athletes participating in sports found its way to the Kenai Tuesday, July 11th, when it was a point of contentious discourse during the latest Kenai Borough Assembly meeting. With this issue on the agenda, many people had this particular meeting noted on their calendars, and attended to voice their thoughts and opinions.
The resolution, presented by assembly member Richard Derkevorkian, would support the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development’s Resolution 02-2023. The resolution itself seeks to preserve opportunities for student athletes while balancing competitive fairness and safety for all competitors.
Assembly member Ecklund presented her argument with one simple phrase: Let them play.
“I did quite a bit of canvassing of my constituents I spoke to coaches, long time coaches of girls teams; they said let them play. I spoke to athletic directors; they said let them play. I spoke to girls athletes; they said let them play. I spoke to parents of girls athletes; they said to let them play. I spoke to school counselors; they said to let them play. I have daughters that played. They didn’t see a problem with playing with someone. It’s not about competition, it’s about getting to play.”
Assembly member Chesley had a logistical reasoning to his decision;
“I’m gonna vote no on this resolution tonight. And my reason for being is just procedure, that we have a school board and we have a school board administration that shares the building with us. I think in developing these policies that we should be definitely working collaboratively with our school board and our district Superintendent and his staff to to do these things.”
Prior to the passing of this motion, this resolution was adopted by the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Development in March. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board recently approved an athletic policy affirming that students’ eligibility to play on girls’ or boys’ sports teams is based on their gender assigned at birth. Additionally, the State school board voted unanimously at its meeting in Soldotna on June 8 to advance a proposed regulation that would afford equal opportunity and competitive fairness for all participants in student athletics by providing a girls’ division with participation based on a student’s gender at birth, and at least one coed open to students who identify with either gender.
Assembly member Tyson Cox, who is a cosponsor, spoke on the resolution;
“I’m questioning what kind of a message we’re sending to our daughters when we’re allowing people born as a boy on their girls teams. Girls have worked very hard to have these teams, and to have their own teams and to be able to play competitively. And I agree with Mrs. Ecklund, this would make some of those other kids feel pretty good being in first place. I think it would make them feel great, but it’s not being truly competitive.” Cox went on to use data to support his position on the issue. “So I did a little research after that and I tried to stay as local as I could with just SoHi because that’s in my district. I looked up their cross country records for 5K cross country scores. For boys, they’re 20th boy – that’s the lowest that you can go on the records for as long as they’ve kept them – was 17 minutes 37 seconds. The first place girl for the same amount of time, was 18:04, which means almost 30 seconds slower than the 20th boy. Then I went through and I looked at track, less than a second difference for the 20th boy to the first girl, the boy was faster. 200 was 2 seconds, 400 was 5 seconds, 800 was two seconds, and so on all the way up to the 3200 meter. The same thing happened every time: the 20th boy was still faster than the fastest girl. I just don’t think that it’s fair. And the way this reads is that we’re talking about safety and competitive fairness. That really is all that matters to me in this.”
President Johnson spoke emotionally about this issue, calling on his personal experiences as a parent of a transgender child. Johnson did vote yes because he says he understands the need for the resolution. Although he focused on the mental health and socio-political challenges transgender students face, and what the Assembly could do;
“What I have discovered in all of this is that when you care about people, if you really care about them, you continue to love them, even if they make choices that are pretty hard. And I want to say tonight, unequivocally, that I love Violet and that I think that those who have brought up suicide are talking straight stuff. I think that suicide is a very big danger for these kids”
The motion passed on a 6 – 2 vote, the “no” votes being cast by Assembly Members Lane Chesley (District 9 – Homer), and Cindy Ecklund (District 6 – East Peninsula).
The resolution was brought forward for the following core reasons:
- Biological Differences: Boys and girls experience distinct physiological variances during puberty, resulting in dissimilarities in strength, speed, and overall athletic performance. These inherent differences provide a rationale for maintaining separate sporting categories, ensuring fair competition based on physiological equality.
- Level Playing Field: Middle and high school girls’ sports were established to create equal opportunities for female athletes and promote fair competition. The inclusion of competitors who were boys at birth can create an imbalance in the playing field, which undermines the purpose and safety of separate women’s competitions. This discrepancy may deter female athletes from pursuing sports due to decreased chances of success.
- Safety Concerns: Physical contact and collisions are inherent in many sports. Given the biological differences between boys and girls, allowing boys to compete in women’s sports may increase the risk of injury for female athletes. The safety and well-being of athletes must be a top priority and ensuring that sports remain gender-separated can help maintain a safer environment.
- Scholarship and Career Opportunities: Many female athletes rely on scholarships and professional careers in sports to further their education and pursue their athletic dreams. The inclusion of boys in women’s sports could potentially reduce the number of opportunities available to female athletes, as boys may dominate competitions and garner scholarships or professional contracts that were originally intended for women.
- Title IX Compliance: Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 was implemented to promote gender equity in educational programs, including sports. Allowing boys to participate in women’s sports may raise concerns about Title IX compliance, as it could diminish the number of opportunities available to female athletes, undermining the spirit of the legislation.
