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Green Bay parents react to transgender athlete potentially joining girls’ sports team
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – Some parents of Green Bay Area School District student athletes don’t feel heard by the district after expressing concern about someone identifying as transgender trying out for the team.
“Disappointed… to say the least,” parent Ryan Gusick said.
The school held a meeting with parents, the principal and the Title IX coordinator late Thursday to address concerns. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA)’s Transgender Participation Policy reads schools need to make sure students have access to athletics without discrimination based on things like disability, race and gender identity.
The district asked all news outlets not to identify the student, their school or their sport to ensure their safety.
“They just told us this is the Title IX ruling, this is how it stands, this is what you can do and that was really it,” Gusick explained. “I thought the meeting was pretty disappointing, the fact that they went through everything they had to say, left it open for questions and that was it.”
The Green Bay Area Public School District issued the following statement to Action 2 News:
WIAA’s policy lists a number of criteria for schools to follow to decide whether a student identifying as transgender can participate on their team of choice, including a written statement from the student affirming consistent gender identity.
The policy reads:
“An MTF student must have one calendar year of medically documented testosterone suppression therapy to be eligible to participate on a female team, consistent with WIAA policy. Note that a MTF student who has NOT started testosterone suppression therapy may participate on male teams if desired by the student, as there would be no concern about safety or competitive equity without biological interventions having been implemented.”
Gusick said some girls on the team are worried about how someone identifying as transgender on the team could impact time in the locker room.
“Because this person chooses to identify as a female, they get to use the female locker room, and if our girls feel threatened or afraid go to seek the school counselor,” Gusick said. “They’re also just more concerned about their safety just the way the balls are being hit and kicked at them, things like that.”
State Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers) is supporting two bills on whether transgender athletes should be able to play on their team of choice. Senate Bill 378 says schools must “prohibit a male pupil from participating on an athletic team or in an athletic sport designated for females” referring to sex listed on a birth certificate.
“It’s about making sure that young ladies are competing on an even footing here with other people that are of the same biological advantages,” Rep. Sortwell said.
“For decades trans athletes have been participating at all levels of competition and there’s simply no categorical dominance by trans athletes,” ACLU Advocacy Director Amanda Merkwae expressed.
Rep. Sortwell believes the bill is going to pass the Senate and end up on Gov. Tony Evers’s desk where he could veto the legislation.
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