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April 20, 2007
Sex Games
 |
| While waiting for CARD's board to discuss
a kid's disc golf course I was treated to a discussion of transgender identity
and Meriam Park's proposed (by New Urban Builders) multi-organizational
park structure. The latter discussion was more interesting to me, but the
former
is what
the
press
has been covering over the last week. So I'll talk about the transgender stuff. Tedra (pronounced Tee-druh) is a man who self-identifies as a woman. She (Tedra) wants to play softball on a girls team, in CARD's league. It was previously reported that Tedra's male softball team didn't want her to play if she came dressed as a woman. At first I wasn't sure if playing on a women's team was an alternative to the guy's team, or if it was part of a larger "transgender rights statement". |
| I think it's okay that the men's softball team players
didn't want her to play dressed as a woman. They are also paying for the
experience to "play",
and maybe they didn't want Tedra's gender identity issues to be part of their
recreation. Sometimes these issues can be seen as "hyper political", and I'm
guessing some of the players just wanted to take part in a simple game, and not be part of a movement. At 6'4" Tedra looks to be a pretty good ball player. I'm thinking if she showed up displaying her feminine side her team would have a competitive advantage (psychological warfare and all that). And CARD has no rules against her playing with the guys. Based on the rule CARD adopted last night in order for her to play with the gals she'd have to undergo surgery and hormone therapy to get into the lineup. Beyond the softball strategy lesson I like to remember the fact that we're all a little bit different and strange. I've yet to meet someone that's not peculiar in some way. If Tedra decides to play on a men's team dressed as a woman, as the rules allow, I hope she finds some teammates more accepting of her. I would play with her, but I suck at softball, so she might not want me on her team. I didn't see anything last night suggesting Tedra was seeking a competitive advantage. I didn't see anything that suggested she was only interested in making a stand on transgender rights. Her statements in the "rights" area were along the lines of "hey, I'm not the only one" and "you have no rules regarding this issue, and you should have some". CARD adopted a rule that bases gender on plumbing (it's based on Olympic sports rules). While this wasn't what Tedra asked for, I think it is fair considering the broader interests involved in CARD's programs. Tedra also deserves credit for talking publicly about being a transgender athlete. Exposing yourself to the public isn't always a fun thing, and it takes courage to do it. But you can't always get what you want, and if you try sometime, you find you get what you need. Hey, isn't that a Rolling Stones song? |
Posted by Lon at April 20, 2007 08:57 AM