Transgender is a very controversial topic. Some people don't even like to discuss the "touchy" subject, but it is something that needs to be handled in the sports world. As we discussed in class there are guidelines a transgender must follow in order to participate legally. They must go through two years of hormonal injections and have the sex surgery.
As in the case with Richard Raskind he played professional woman's tennis after previously being a man. He was the age of 41 and did very well. He did so well that people started to question him. I believe he had an unfair advantage. By todays bylaws he would not be able to compete. I found it interesting that he agreed later in his life that when he played, he had an advantage. He was very humble and did not want to take credit for being a pioneer. He had a really good third person view on his life and what he went through
Kye Allums is a transgender man who plays woman basketball. She does not take any different hormones or anything radical like that. She just believes she should be a man. She doesn't have any advantage or disadvantage in her sport. I do not think her press conference to come out was necessary though. Simply coming out for her friends, family, and coaches would have been enough. I'm not telling her to hide it from the media or if people ask, but to put it out there like she did was too much.
What about others who feel like her and might be afraid to talk about it? Perhaps the example of Kye Allums or Chaz Bono would be helpful to them.
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