While there is a lot of noise about trans athlete performance, I’m curious about a more practical point : Locker-room. I can’t think about many sport facilities having individual locker-rooms, but usually it’s a room for men, a room for women each with communal shower.
How do you practically manage-it ? How do you get invited/welcomed to your post-transition locker room ? What about the feature left from the assigned-at-birth gender ? What happen when you start developing feature of your transition gender but don’t pass well enough to switch locker-room ?
I may be totally wrong but I wonder whether it’s not more a blocking-point for trans athlete than rules in competition (which impact a minority of athlete anyway) but at the same time we never hear about “sport facilites” opening some “gender non conforming locker-room” for more inclusion.
In Australia, it’s not the same issue it is in the US. Trans rights are protected here, and so, trans folk are legally allowed to use the locker room that is right for them, and on top of that, locker rooms in Australia generally don’t involve people getting naked around each other either to change or to shower. Locker room showers are generally in individual stalls, each with its own small changing area as part of the stall (something like this). That is where the majority of people change. There is a public area with lockers, but people in that space after a shower are mostly either already dressed, or in their underwear.
From my own personal experience, when I was a roller derby player before COVID, it was a non issue. Of course, roller derby is perhaps the most trans inclusive sport on the planet, so I’m not sure it’s a good example. Public swimming pools haven’t been an issue because of the shower design I mentioned above. And as a runner, I don’t really use public change rooms
tl;dr - It’s only an issue because transphobes choose to make it an issue
At least in America, I don’t believe Amy trans athletes should answer anything like this.
We’d be kidding ourselves if we assumed the Feds weren’t on the Fediverse
Its called the fediverse because of all the feds.
I think many of us just stay away from locker rooms and public bathrooms as much as possible because we want to avoid being stared at or getting into uncomfortable situations with others making a scene. I’m no athlete, but I try to not go to public bathrooms and I plan my life accordingly. I’ve gone a few times and it has been problem free each time, but people do look as they go by because I don’t pass.
How safe we feel going into a locker room is gonna depend on who we go with, where we go and how tolerated we are in that area, how confident we are, and to what degree we pass.
If someone I know invites me anywhere which requires going into a locker room I’m likely gonna tell them no. Maybe I’m overly anxious and it would go just fine, but I’m not interested in rolling the dice with how people are gonna react.
I take it you are being sincere, but with how places like the UK and US have been ruling in regards to spaces like that, what do you expect us to tell you?
What happen when you start developing feature of your transition gender but don’t pass well enough to switch locker-room ?
If other people weren’t so close minded and dangerous towards trans folks it wouldn’t matter. As of right now it’s “hide the best we can” because the alternative is cis people harassing or assaulting us.
I get the downvotes thx,
But actually it’s a real question. Every time I hear about the trans athlete debate, I feel like locker rooms are a bigger problem than competition.
The whole hide strategysucks, because it basically means waiting to passgood enough to join a new club, not great for people enjoying their hobby
I literally did not (and cannot due to my instance) downvote you.
Every time I hear about the trans athlete debate, I feel like locker rooms are a bigger problem than competition.
Yeah? You wanna expand on that some more or you want me to draw my own conclusions on what the debate is or why being in a locker room is something requiring debate?
I get that you are pretty sensitive, but not trying to troll or anything. I never said that there is a need for a debate.
I just see that very few sport facilities are explicitly inclusive, and that the moment where you change locker room must be kinda weird. It also looks like the kind of issues a mayor could easily fix but it’s mostly not done.
