The South Dakota High School Activities Association is considering a policy change that allows transgender students to participate on teams according to their identified gender, rather than the gender listed on records. If approved later this year, a committee composed of experts in transgender health and gender identity will hear cases and make recommendations to the activities association.
James Weaver with the South Dakota High School Activities Association says the state is trying to be proactive with this policy change. He says other states already have similar policies in place, and he knows South Dakota does have transgender students. He says the Gender Identification Eligibility Committee will decide whether a transgender student, like a male student who identifies as a female student, could participate on female sports teams.
“At the activities association, our main goal is the safety of all participants. So what we’re going to do, right now this is designed in the policy to allow for an avenue of a transgender to participate within the gender classifications of which they identify. Our hope would be that within that Gender Identification Eligibility Committee that that safety aspect would be there as well and they would be able to say this may or may not be a good fit, and they would have recommendations for us as far as the safety aspect goes,” Weaver says.
Weaver says a few years ago a school did inquire about transgender policies, but that student decided not to pursue athletics. He says it’s only a matter of time before the activities association does have a request and they want to have a policy in place.