|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
HRC condemns NCAA for failure to protect LGBTQ+ athletes
-- From a press release
2022-01-21
|
|
This article shared 1628 times since Fri Jan 21, 2022
|
|
WASHINGTON, D.C. Late last night, the NCAA ratified ( www.ncaa.org/news/2022/1/20/media-center-ncaa-members-approve-new-constitution.aspx ) its new constitution, which does not include nondiscrimination policy language that had been a part of previous constitutions. The organization took this action despite the urging ( hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Letter-to-NCAA-Board-of-Governors.pdf ) of 18 national advocacy groups across a wide spectrum of issues, led by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Athlete Ally to reinstate and strengthen previously-existing nondiscrimination policy language protecting LGBTQ+ athletes, women, and athletes of color into their new draft constitution ( www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-athlete-ally-call-on-ncaa-to-include-non-discrimination-language-enforceable-protections-for-transgender-athletes-in-new-constitutio ) . The NCAA also announced a new policy regarding participation of transgender athletes that raises significant concerns. While the NCAA says it supports a safe environment for all student-athletes, it has repeatedly failed to take responsibility for ensuring that safe environment in fact exists for LGBTQ+ athletes, women, and athletes of color.
Last year amidst an historically discriminatory state legislative session the Human Rights Campaign, Athlete Ally, and WNBA players and coaches ( www.hrc.org/press-releases/breaking-2021-becomes-record-year-for-anti-transgender-legislation ) called on the NCAA to protect transgender athletes by opposing anti-trans sports ban bills by enforcing their own policy ( www.hrc.org/press-releases/breaking-2021-becomes-record-year-for-anti-transgender-legislation )of ensuring a 'safe, healthy, and [discrimination-free]' environment for transgender athletes the same policy they cited ( www.ncaa.org/news/2017/4/4/ncaa-board-of-governors-position-on-hb2-repeal.aspx ) for withdrawing from North Carolina in the wake of the HB2 'bathroom bill in 2016.' They promptly did the opposite by announcing championship host sites in states that had recently passed anti-trans sports ban bills ( www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-reacts-to-ncaa-violating-its-own-anti-discrimination-policy-for-championship-host-sites ). When HRC and Athlete Ally requested a meeting with the NCAA ( hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Request-for-a-Meeting.pdf ) in December of 2021 to lay out just how damaging their lack of action could be to transgender NCAA athletes, they flatly ignored our request. Human Rights Interim President Joni Madison issued the following statement in response to the NCAA's ratified constitution:
"If not through their constitution, the NCAA needs to show us their playbook for protecting LGBTQ+ and specifically transgender athletes from discrimination. The NCAA has so far proven to be an unreliable ally to LGBTQ+ athletes across the country who depend upon the organization to protect them from discrimination and now they owe these athletes answers. Their inaction is giving extremist legislators across the country precisely what they want and need to advance a discriminatory agenda targeting LGBTQ+, and particularly transgender, people: their silence, which provides the cover to push radical policies. Look no further than Indiana's religious refusal law in 2015 or the 2017 HB2 bathroom bill in North Carolina to see the impact NCAA action can have in defeating discriminatory legislation. Unfortunately, the past two years have been a disastrous example of what happens when the NCAA does nothing meaningful to stand up to this historic discriminatory effort.
The NCAA's new policy on transgender participation is equally concerning, particularly given that it came as a surprise to advocates who had been engaging with the NCAA on this issue. Their rollout of this policy has left many athletes and individual sports programs confused, concerned, and uncertain about their own future. The NCAA refusing to take responsibility for ensuring that LGBTQ+ athletes, women, and athletes of color have safe, equitable ability to participate in athletics puts schools and conferences in an impossible position and makes it more difficult to enforce fairness amidst an ever-changing patchwork of state laws across the country. The NCAA's unresponsiveness, unwillingness to re-implement common sense language, and inability to enforce their own policies to protect athletes vulnerable to discrimination are all deeply disappointing and dangerous. We know they are capable of better."
Read more about the 18 national advocacy groups who yesterday publicly urged the NCAA yesterday to adopt previously existing nondiscrimination language in their new constitution:
Sports Illustrated: Advocates Call on NCAA to Add Nondiscrimination Language to Constitution: www.si.com/college/2022/01/20/ncaa-constitution-nondiscrimination-hrc-athlete-ally-glaad .
NBC Sports: Advocates call for NCAA to add nondiscrimination protections to new constitution onherturf.nbcsports.com/2022/01/20/advocates-call-for-ncaa-to-add-nondiscrimination-protections-to-new-constitution/ .
The 19th: LGBTQ+ advocates ask NCAA not to cut nondiscrimination protections for athletes: 19thnews.org/2022/01/lgbtq-advocates-ncaa-nondiscrimination-protections-athletes/ .
The Week: Advocacy organizations urge NCAA to include nondiscrimination protections in constitution: theweek.com/culture/sports/1009208/advocacy-organizations-urge-ncaa-to-include-nondiscrimination-protections-in .
|
|
|
|
This article shared 1628 times since Fri Jan 21, 2022
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | ProudToRun poised to return in 2024, fighting through lack of resources 2024-04-24 Chicago's 42-year-old LGBTQ+ running event, ProudToRun, is so far set to return June 2024 following the cancellation of last year's race. The city's original Pride Week running event took a hiatus last year due to a ...
|
| | Toward a golden hour: Advocate Rodrigo Heng-Lehinthen predicts trans-rights breakthrough in U.S. 2024-04-24 Two of the nation's biggest trans advocacy organizations are set to merge later this year. In early summer, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) will officially ...
|
| | Tatumn Milazzo wins NWSL honor for second consecutive week 2024-04-23 --From a press release - CHICAGO (April 23, 2024) — Chicago Red Stars defender and Orland Park, Illinois, native Tatumn Milazzo earned National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Deloitte Impact Save of the Week honors for the second consecutive week, the leag ...
|
| | Red Stars beat Seattle Reign 2-1 2024-04-22 For the second time this season, the Chicago Red Stars took down the Seattle Reign FC, this time 2-1 on the road on April 21. Thanks to goals from Ally Schlegel and Mallory Swanson, the Red Stars have swept the Reign ...
|
| | Chicago Red Stars place forward Ava Cook on season-ending injury list 2024-04-21 --From a press release - CHICAGO (April 20, 2024) — The Chicago Red Stars announced the following health update on forward Ava Cook: Cook sustained a knee injury during Red Stars training this week. After further medical evaluation, it was determined ...
|
| | HRC continues call for Title IX rules that protect transgender student-athletes 2024-04-19 --From a press release - WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced it has finalized a Title IX rule that clarifies the scope of nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout educational activities ...
|
| | New Title IX rules protects LGBTQ+ students...to a point 2024-04-19 New Title IX guidelines finalized April 19 will protect the rights of LGBTQ+ students by federal law and further safeguards of victims of campus sexual assault, according to ABC News. But those protections don't extend to ...
|
| | WORLD Nigeria arrest, Chilean murderer, trans ban, Olivier Awards, marriage items 2024-04-19 Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC's) decision to arrest well-known transgender woman Idris Okuneye (also known as Bobrisky) over the practice of flaunting money has sparked questions among several ...
|
| | NATIONAL Ohio law blocked, Trevor Project, Rev. Troy Perry, ICE suit, Elon Musk 2024-04-19 In Ohio, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook temporarily blocked a Republican-backed state law banning gender-affirming care (such as puberty blockers and hormones) for transgender minors from ...
|
| | THEATER Blue in the Right Way's 'Women Beware Women' offers feminist, trans take on a troubling Jacobean tragedy 2024-04-18 "Problematic" is a great go-to adjective to describe Women Beware Women. This 1621 Jacobean tragedy is by English playwright Thomas Middleton, who is probably best remembered as a collaborator with William Shakespeare on their pessimistic tragedy ...
|
| | Tatumn Milazzo wins National Women's Soccer League Impact Save of the Week 2024-04-17 --From a press release - CHICAGO (April 16, 2024) — Chicago Red Stars defender Tatumn Milazzo earned National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Deloitte Impact Save of the Week honors, the league announced today. In the 32nd minute of Chicago's April 13 ...
|
| | Appeals court overturns W. Va. trans sports ban 2024-04-17 On April 16, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with teen trans runner Becky Pepper-Jackson and overturned a West Virginia law that banned transgender athletes from competing on girls' and women's sports teams in ...
|
| | Fed appeals panel ruling helps trans athlete 2024-04-17 A three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday (April 16) that West Virginia's law barring transgender female students from participating on female student sports teams violates federal law. In a 2 to 1 decision, the panel ...
|
| | NAIA votes to ban trans women from athletics, affecting Chicago conference 2024-04-16 The National Association of Intercollegiate College on April 8 released a new policy on transgender athletes, banning trans women from competing under its jurisdiction. The new policy, which is set to go into effect Aug. 1, ...
|
| | Chicago Sky select Cardoso, Reese in WNBA Draft 2024-04-16 On April 15, the Chicago Sky chose two key players from the past two women's national college basketball championship teamsSouth Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso and LSU's Angel Reesein the first round of the WNBA Draft. The Sky ...
| |
|
|
|
|
| New Title IX rules protects LGBTQ+ students...to a point | | NATIONAL Ohio law blocked, Trevor Project, Rev. Troy Perry, ICE suit, Elon Musk | | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' | | LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project set to hold its second annual exhibition | | WORLD Nigeria arrest, Chilean murderer, trans ban, Olivier Awards, marriage items | |
|
|
|
|