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A Critical Analysis of Transgender High School Athletic Association Policies

Burns, Gwyneth Hylander
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1688030419156762

Abstract Details

2023, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies.
Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller were two high school transgender athletes who complied with Connecticut’s inclusive policy regarding trans athletes, but they were still questioned by others about their right to participate. Currently the inclusion of transgender athletes is a highly debated topic in high school sports. Sport participation provides an important space for youth to learn teamwork, make friends, and to improve their mental and physical health (Ogilvie, 2017). High school state athletic association policies, while framed as inclusive, have the potential to exclude transgender youth from participating in sport alongside their cisgender peers. Guided by feminist cultural studies (Krane, 2001a; Waldron, 2019), I critique the different types of high school transgender athlete policies and highlight how they promote inclusion or exclusion. Four tenets of feminist cultural studies—everyday social practices, unequal gendered dynamics, hegemonic processes, and normative gender, sex, and sexuality (Waldron, 2019)— guide my analysis. The policy groupings are inclusive, no guidance, discriminatory processes, hormone intervention, gender confirmation surgery, birth certificate, and state law (Buzuvis, 2016; Transathlete.com, 2023). I identified state high school athletic association policies within the United States, grouped each policy into the specific categories, and then analyzed how each policy grouping reflected or reinforced everyday social practices, unequal gendered assumptions, and common cultural narrative. Barriers to trans inclusion stemmed from policies that strictly reinforced the sex and gender binary, assumptions about fair play, and following the heteronormative structure of sport. Some of the barriers may include requiring hormonal or surgical intervention before medically recommended, time consuming steps for changed birth certificate, and that gender affirming care may be inaccessible to trans youth due to high cost. High school athletic association policy should be used to support the inclusion of transgender athletes instead of advocating for the exclusion of transgender youth who wish to participate in sport.
Vikki Krane, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Ellen Broido, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
134 p.
Gender; Physical Education; Public Policy; Recreation; Sports Management
Transgender athletes, Youth sport, Transgender Policy, Feminist Cultural Studies;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Burns, G. H. (2023). A Critical Analysis of Transgender High School Athletic Association Policies [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1688030419156762

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Burns, Gwyneth. A Critical Analysis of Transgender High School Athletic Association Policies. 2023. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1688030419156762.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Burns, Gwyneth. "A Critical Analysis of Transgender High School Athletic Association Policies." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1688030419156762

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1688030419156762
596
© 2023, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12