Inclusive Growth: Creating Space for Trans Players Craig Kulyk - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Inclusive Growth: Creating Space for Trans Players

Craig Kulyk (Marketing Manager) Troë Weston (League Manager)

Jenna Weiner

Why it's important

Made fun of for being Trans

Ref: Trans Pulse Survey (2006-2013)

73% 27%

Heard Trans People Were Not Normal

Ref: Trans Pulse Survey 2006-2013

96% 4%

Ever considered suicide

Ref: Trans Pulse Survey (2006-2013)

77% 23%

The Good News

Ref: Trans Pulse Survey (2006-2013)

Ultimate can lead.

What Can We Do?

What We Can Do

• Open
• Welcome
• Listen (to trans players)
• Start

Open – Understanding Gender

Open – Understanding Gender

Open – Understanding Gender

Welcome - Language

• Cisgender
• Gender identity or expression is the SAME from sex assigned at birth
• Transgender
• Gender identity or expression DIFFERS from sex assigned at birth
• Trans man
• Assigned woman to man
• Trans woman
• Assigned man to woman
• Non-binary
• doesn't identify as man or woman. Still considered under trans umbrella

Welcome - Language

• Pronouns
• He/Him/His
• She/Her/Her
• They/Them/Their

Welcome - Language

• LGBTQ+/ LGBTQ2S+
• The VUL has made policy changes
• Instead of “The VUL has a trans policy”

Strategic Plan

SPIRIT, FACILITIES, COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, HUMAN RESOURCES, GOVERNANCE

ADULT YOUTH

LEADERSHIP REGIONAL SUPPORT

FOUR PILLARS – for our focus until 2021

Foundations supporting all Pillars SPIRIT, FACILITIES, COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, HUMAN RESOURCES, GOVERNANCE

• teach spirit
• support

coaches

• life-long

community

• resources
• satisfaction
• life-long

community

• support

development

• share

knowledge

• promote

and improve inclusivity

• positive

community initiatives

Our Process – Timeline

Listen/Start

Apr 2016 Decision to move towards inclusivity and start now! June 2016 Reached out to Qmunity! Aug 2016 Qmunity lead focus group Jun-Aug 2016 Qmunity Research! (other sports,

• ther ulti orgs, etc)

Sep 2016 First full staff meeting with Qmunity Oct – Dec 2016 Discussions with Qmunity and working on plan Jan 2017 Final report from Qmunity submitted Feb 2017 Timeline for launch decided Apr 2017 Staff training session with Qmunity Apr 2017 Captain’s meeting and discussion

And Finally…..

Our Process

Listen/Start

We were ready to fully launch our website updates in August 2017 on Pride Weekend!

Changes the VUL has Made

Approach: You are an expert on yourself – therefore you decide which gender you identify with.

Changes the VUL has Made

1) User Profiles

Added options to the gender field New question!

Changes the VUL has Made

2) League Play

• “Gender” field on

rosters has changed to “Gender Matching” (while gender identity remains private)

• The Gender Ratio on

the field remains the same – endzone chooses 4/3 women or men matching players

Susan Bobbie Jean Susan Smith Carol King Jane Doe Eleanor Rigby Mary Jane Rosa Parks Troe Weston Bobbie Smith Frank Herbert Craig Kulyk Roger Federer John Doe Albert Einstein Barak Obama Michael Jordan Terry Cruz

Changes the VUL has Made

3) Other Services

• Women-only clinics and leagues are now updated to

highlight that trans women are welcome to attend

• Discounts given to groups or 2 or 3 registering with women

are now given to groups with ‘women matching’ players instead

• Annual awards used to be
• ne ‘male’ and one

‘female’, now they are awarded to 2 people of different genders

Changes the VUL has Made

4) Website Content

We removed language from our website that reinforces gender binaries and replaced it with more inclusive language

Listen/Start – Moving Forward

• Reach out to Trans community to play
• Ongoing communication to members
• Feedback from trans players
• Continue training and education for staff
• Formal Media response

Ultimate Canada’s Inclusion Policy

UC Inclusion Policy Background

• Desire to be proactive
• Worked with Sport Law Strategy Group
• Different factors for a NSO than leagues or P/TSOs
• Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES)

guidelines

CCES Guidelines

• Creating Inclusive Environments for Trans

Participants in Canadian Sport

• 1. Development/Recreation sport athletes:

– Should be able to “Participate in the gender with which they identify“ – No disclosure requirement beyond cisgender requirements – No requirement for hormonal therapy or surgery

CCES Guidelines

• 2. High-performance athletes (once international

rules apply)

– Should not require hormone therapy unless the sport organization can prove that hormone therapy is a reasonable and bona fide requirement – Not a requirement for Ultimate

CCES Guidelines

• 3. Transgender identity disclosure

– No requirement unless there is a justified reason requiring them to do so – Generally, no requirement for Ultimate

• 4. High-performance surgical intervention

– Should not be required to participate in high- performance sport

Final Notes

• Exception clause. Rules apply to regulations UC controls.

May be different rules for WFDF events.

• Actions for inclusion

– Challenge: Online registration

• Summary: Athletes can participate in UC programs in the

gender category of their choosing

– Human rights issue

What you can do

1) Use inclusive language and promotion

What you can do

2) Engage with LGBTQ+ groups and players

What you can do

3) Change your policies and processes

What you can do

4) Listen to trans players

What you can do

5) Discuss next year at UCC

Arkell's Message

“Reading the VUL statement that you posted today was incredibly impactful for me. It actually brought me to tears (which isn’t all that common). As a trans identified person, I feel like I’ve had to compromise my identity in a really significant way in order to play the game that I love. This really, really, really sucks. The thought that there is somewhere out there where my identity and my spot on the field don’t have to be in conflict is assuring. THANK-YOU (and thanks to the others who contributed to this work)!!”

Questions

1) What's the first step you will take in your community? 2) What challenges are you concerned about?