Basketball Victoria Says It Supports Inclusion Of Transgender Athletes
Image: Representative image. Photo: Basketball Victoria.
Basketball Victoria has come out in support of the inclusion of trans athletes in the senior leagues. The organisation’s statement comes after it was reported that a transgender athlete had applied to play in the NBL1 South competition.
Former NBA champion Andrew Bogut in a tweet on Monday controversially questioned “sacrificing the sanctity of Female Sport in the name of “inclusion?”
In a statement, Basketball Australia said it was “disappointing to see the negative commentary and hurtful language used across social media over the past 24 hours since it was made public that Basketball Victoria had received an application for a transgender athlete to play in the NBL1 South competition.”
“Basketball Australia (BA) prides itself on being a sport for all, ensuring all participants experience a welcoming, fair and inclusive environment,” the apex body said and asked for “patience and understanding” as Basketball Victoria dealt with the application.
New Guidelines For Trans And Gender-Diverse Athletes
On its part, Basketball Victoria said that it had collaborated with BA to come up with guidelines to support trans and gender-diverse players.
These were based on BA’s 2021 guidelines for trans and gender-diverse players in community sports.
“These guidelines support participation opportunities for transgender athletes while balancing fairness and inclusion, particularly for Victorian Senior Representative Leagues such as NBL1 South, Big V and CBL,” Basketball Victoria said in a statement.
Basketball Victoria also confirmed that the application by the trans athlete was in the “final stages” of a process to join the league’s 2023 season.
No One-Size-Fits-All
The organisation acknowledged that there was no “one-size-fits-all” and would deal with applications from trans and gender-diverse athletes who want to play at elite and sub-elite levels on a case-by-case basis.
“It is important that all athletes participate in an inclusive, fair, and respectful environment and we hope all in the community can move forward together with a clear understanding of the new guidelines,” Basketball Victoria CEO Nick Honey said.
According to Sheena Atkin, Basketball Victoria’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager, the new guidelines “confirm the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community into all levels of basketball being an imperative.”
While transphobes flooded social media with negative comments, Trans athlete Kristi Miller welcomed the stand taken by both organisations. “I am extremely heartened by the responses from Basketball Australia, Basketball Victoria and several female legends of the game that are standing with this brave athlete. The majority against us just don’t understand what is being regulated,” Miller tweeted.
