Trans triathlete Chris Mosier has found nothing but welcoming arms from his Empire Tri Club, which is not LGBT. It’s been the LGBT sports leagues where he has faced sometimes overt discrimination. He writes for Original Plumbing:
In designated LGBT sports spaces, I have encountered problem after problem, and an unwillingness or lack of effort to correct them. …
In designated LGBT sports spaces, I have encountered problem after problem, and an unwillingness or lack of effort to correct them. …
The facility they use for one sport has men’s and women’s locker rooms. Many of the players had played with me when I was in the league before transition, and not much about me had changed beyond pronouns. I had not used a female facility in over a year, but a male coworker is also in the league and the thought of that awkward moment stopped me from using the men’s locker room for the rest of the season. One solution offered to me was to “go to McDonalds to change and come back.”
They found another place for me to change but it was on another floor in a restricted area.
Mosier also describes a situation with a gay bowling league in which he was called a “tranny,” and his complaint was met with a pat response.
Amazing that a “straight” sports organization could handle a trans athlete better than a “gay” sports league.
I’m so proud that the New York Gay Football League, which I co-founded, now has a trans athlete as its commissioner (and has for years). All trans people in New York are welcome in the football league; You won’t find this kind of discrimination there.
