The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday will wade into the issue of transgender rights in Alaska when it considers whether to support banning trans girls from competing in girls sports at the high school level.
Up for consideration is a resolution sponsored by assembly member Richard Derkevorkian that would throw the assembly’s support behind efforts by the Alaska State Board of Education to change the section of Alaska Administrative Code that governs interscholastic activities.
The board is considering whether to create separate athletic categories for cisgender girls — whose gender identities match the sex they were assigned at birth — and other student athletes when participating in interscholastic activities in Alaska.
The proposed regulation specifically says that Alaska schools and school districts may join eligible activities associations, like the Alaska School Activities Association, as long as those associations ensure only students assigned female at birth participate in girls high school athletics teams. The new regulation would define athletics as competitive or contact sports, as determined by the association.
Currently, ASAA regulates the participation of trans athletes in Alaska high school sports on a case by case basis.
The board in March adopted a resolution formally stating its support for regulations separating cis and trans high school girl athletes and, during a June 8 meeting in Soldotna, voted to take public comments on the proposal. Any changes approved by state board members would be subject to review and approval by the Alaska Department of Law.
The resolution being considered by assembly members Tuesday, if passed, would be submitted to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development as a public comment in support of the proposal to limit participation in girls sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth.
“Student (athletics) should promote safety and fairness in competition,” the proposed resolution says. “The separation of boys and girls in sports is related to competitive fairness, safety, and broad, equal participation and opportunity.”
Derkevorkian in a memo accompanying his resolution cited biological differences between boys and girls, the need for a level playing field in sports, safety concerns, scholarship and career opportunities, and compliance with federal Title IX requirements as reasons the assembly should support separate teams for cisgender girls in high school sports.
The same memo makes multiple references to “the inclusion of boys in women’s sports,” which Derkevorkian says may reduce opportunities for female athletes, “as boys may dominate competitions and garner scholarships or professional contracts that were originally intended for women.”
When discussing issues of transgender rights, trans girls are sometimes referred to as “boys” and trans women as “men.” The term “transgender woman” refers to a person who was assigned male at birth and transitioned to align with their identity as a woman. The same is true of transgender girls.
In bringing the resolution forward, Derkevorkian says he is attempting to get ahead of an issue some say is not an issue in Alaska.
“Some may say that this identifies a solution that is not a problem in Alaska. However, I believe it is better to be proactive than reactive,” the memo says. “The State School Board should be applauded for getting out in front of this issue in a manner that is fair and provides opportunity — through separate sports divisions — for all competitors.”
Nattaphon “Ice” Wangyot, who in 2016 competed in an individual event at the Alaska State Track Championships, is understood to be the first and only publicly transgender athlete to compete in high school sports at the championship level in Alaska.
The resolution currently sits on the assembly’s consent agenda. Unless it is removed from the consent agenda by an assembly member, it will pass without discussion at the beginning of the meeting, when the assembly approves the consent agenda.
Tuesday’s assembly meeting will be streamed on the borough’s website at kpb.legistar.us.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
