It happened back in November, in a somewhat quiet manner, that the South Dakota High School Activites Association gave religiously affiliated schools an out on the transgender policy… Albeit, an expensive out:
SDHSAA passed a policy demanding that, if religiously affiliated schools wished to deny a high school student the opportunity to play sports as a gender other than what is on their birth certificate, the activities association was to he held completely harmless.
So, what about secular schools who wanted the same choice?
1. Sounds like a reasonable accommodation, for sectarian & secular schools.
2. What if the sex on the birth certificate is later changed, as some states allow?
Are there high school aged people in South Dakota that have a recognized sex change, recognized meaning a birth certificate is legally modified?
Jeff unknown but if it did happen I’m sure it would have been done as discreetly as possible given the transgender boogieman or boogiewoman attitudes out there. Otherwise that child and parents or single parent would face discrimination. The other possibility is a child born with both sex organs. It happens.
The policy statement as written essentially invites these biologically challenged people to file a lawsuit. I find that objectionable.
On the other hand, why should the SDHSAA be held accountable for a policy adopted by a member school with which they disagree?
I think the whole policy should be scrapped – the reason for different sports has to do with biological fact, not imaginary notions tricked out of some gullible kid’s head by some over-eager psychologist. I think sex-change operations are silly, but if someone goes to all that trouble to change his/her biology, then okay. Let them play on the team their new sex/gender would indicate.
PNR,
“over-eager psychologist.?” Hardly! If that were the case I’d advise finding a different psychologist right away. It’s their job under the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care to do everything they can to explore with the child and legal guardians alternative options while explaining the consequences. The mental health professionals also conduct testing and try to identify any other underlying mental health issues that may cause this child to believe they are Gender Dysphoric when they are really not. It’s step by step with going to the point of hormones or anything happening surgically as a last resort.
“over-eager psychologist.?”
Here’s one of the worst, and well-respected:
John Money, M.D
“The mental health professionals also conduct testing and try to identify any other underlying mental health issues ”
The same groups of “professionals” who are sanctioned (or barred) from utilizing testing and methods frowned upon by their PC obsessed licensing organizations?
” It’s step by step with going to the point of hormones or anything happening surgically as a last resort.”
Yeah, sure!!!
Just like mental health professionals use drug therapies as a last resort to treat ADHD/ADD!
Your faith in the profession is touching, but misplaced.
Remember, they have a professional interested in prolonging the condition requiring treatment, too. There’s an awful lot of perfectly normal behavior that’s labeled a “disorder” these days by those professionals. I have a hard time believing personal profit is not a factor for at least some of those responsible for the DSM.
Note, too, that I specified “psychologists” as opposed to psychiatrists. The latter is a biological science-based medical profession. The former wants to pretend it is, but isn’t. At best it is statistically guided guesswork – which may be very helpful when applied in a spirit of humility or very dangerous if applied in a spirit of hubris. At worst it is undiluted hokum.