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CoSIDA.com/CoSIDA360 Magazine Archive
Note: This story appeared in the Fall 2018 November edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.
CoSIDA Diversity & Inclusion Committee
What's in a Word?
Pronoun Usage and the LGBTQA+ Community
by Mark LaFrance – George Mason University, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
A few weeks ago, I set up an online account in order to pay a medical bill.
As I filled out basic demographic information, one multiple choice line stuck with me.
Gender: Male | Female
Two choices. That’s it.
As I sat there staring at the choice on my computer, I couldn’t help feeling frustrated and angry.
In 2018, our society continues to operate in a harmfully outdated, binary model of gender and sexuality.
As a gay man, I identify as male both in biological sex and gender. It is a straightforward gender and sexual identity that’s been fairly well understood in American society for years.
I fit into a binary model of gender and sexual identity. I use the pronouns he/him/his.
But for many individuals within our LGBTQA+ community, that identification is not so simple.
They might not associate with a “he” or “she” pronoun. And improperly using one of those pronouns when referring to an individual can be emotionally detrimental. It can trivialize the transformational journey that individual has taken to become the person they are meant to be in a society which may not make that an easy task.
As sports information directors, it’s our duty to ensure our LGBTQA+ student-athletes are properly identified and that the correct identification is easily found in our press materials, quick facts and bio information.
It is our responsibility to make sure that individual feels comfortable and accepted within our athletic departments across the country, particularly at institutions which tend to be more conservative or close-minded towards gender identity and sexual orientation.
As our society has become more progressive, more individuals who compete in college athletics have begun to identify publicly as transgender, gender queer, and non-binary. Like any student-athlete, these individuals often times have found escape and true feelings of belonging through athletics.
As more individuals discover and make their true identities public at earlier ages, this number of LGBTQA+ student-athletes is bound to increase.
That is a refreshing and wonderful thought, and as SIDs, we must be prepared for the chance that our institutions will welcome a student-athlete who may not fit into the traditional model of gender and biological sex.
In that case, you may wonder what the best way is to ensure you are using accurate information when referring to this athlete in your external communication.
Dr. Kayleigh McCauley is the associate dean of students at Lewis & Clark College in Oregon, the founder of Out in Athletics and our preeminent scholar on LGBTQA+ diversity and inclusion within the college athletics industry. Dr. McCauley served on our panel on contemporary LGBTQA+ issues in college athletics last June at the #CoSIDA18 Convention in Washington, D.C.
“Pronouns are such a small part of our language, but they make an incredibly large impact,” McCauley said. “Athletic administrators should never assume or assign student-athletes pronouns without asking them individually.”
The prospect of approaching a student-athlete and posing a question to such a sensitive topic may seem daunting. But there are many ways in which you can indirectly learn the answer or field the question in a way which makes the student-athlete feel welcome and appreciated.
First, take the time to learn more about how pronouns can have a profound effect on LGBTQA+ individuals and educate yourself on proper usage via the website mypronouns.org. With this knowledge in hand, you will be better prepared to help your non-gender conforming athletes feel welcome in your department.
Next, if your athletic department gives incoming student-athletes a bio questionnaire to fill out, take a look at how gender or sex is identified. If a binary option (Male | Female) is included, ask your supervisor to change the response field to an open-ended option that is simply listed as “gender pronouns with which you identify” or something similar. This eliminates a source of potentially harmful exclusion for an athlete who is enrolling at your institution.
If you learn of a gender queer or non-gender conforming student-athlete on one of your teams, utilize the support staff around your team to learn more about the athlete: what the transition or coming out process has been like for the athlete and how their background has shaped who they are.
Then, if you are prepared to approach the student-athlete to determine proper pronoun use and other key pieces of information, consider breaking the ice by sharing your own pronouns first.
“This will create an environment that signals to the student-athlete that you are open to talking about pronouns,” McCauley said. “Forcing the conversation or the question about pronouns is highly discouraged. You do not want to create an environment where someone is forced to reveal a part of their identity that they do not want to or are not ready to share.”
This is another area where learning where the student-athlete is in the process internally from coaches and support staff would be helpful in order to know if the athlete is ready to share their identity within the public forum.
In other cases, the student-athlete will simply come to you to let you know how they’d like to be identified in releases, rosters and publications.
At the University of Michigan, Associate Director of Athletic Communications Brad Rudner successfully did just that when four-time All-American and five-time Big Ten Champion G Ryan trusted him when they were ready to share their identity publicly heading into their junior year (see story below).
Ultimately, the onus falls on the media to use correct references, but in our role as communicators and educators, there is a lot we can do to help our student-athletes in this important process.
In our own personal writing, we also can take steps to stray from overuse of pronouns in general.
“Try to challenge yourself in your writing,” McCauley says. “Try to use first and last names, hometowns and other potential outside-the-box references for all student-athletes. There is no rule book (to my knowledge) that says that we have to primarily use gender pronouns when referring to an individual. Remember, if you choose to do this, do so across the board. Do not just pick and choose who you use this method for.”
CoSIDA has done an outstanding job of incorporating aspects of inclusion into its organizational structure over the past few years. The Diversity and Inclusion committee, led by Florida Atlantic Senior Associate Athletic Director Jess Poole and founded in 2016, meets regularly to discuss ways to better incorporate diversity and inclusion programming and elements across race, gender, sexuality and many other human dynamics.
Poole is an outstanding resource for CoSIDA members looking to make their departments more inclusive.
On the LGBTQA+ side, myself and legendary University of North Carolina associate athletic communications director Dave Lohse serve on the committee. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or suggestions you may have.
When it comes specifically to gender pronouns and transgender/gender queer student-athletes, the worst thing we can do is assume.
Take the steps necessary to report information accurately. And remember, a student-athlete’s gender identity may change over the course of their athletic career.
When transitioning your roster information and making pronoun references to the student-athlete in stories, you may not be perfect and could make some identification mistakes early.
This is to be expected. And more likely than not, the student-athlete will simply be grateful of your efforts in helping them in this important step along their life’s journey.
If we all work together, we can make college athletics a place where LGBTQA+ student-athletes can feel welcome, accepted and loved. We’re already well on our way to that ideal, and I’m so proud of our profession for everything that’s been done for our LGBTQA+ community.
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“I was happy to be of assistance to G in this process.”
- Brad Rudner, University of Michigan
Rudner
At the University of Michigan, G Ryan put together an incredible career as a member of the women’s swimming & diving team. Heading into G’s junior year, the four-time All-American and five-time Big Ten champion approached SID Brad Rudner and gave him some important information.
G — a transgender, gender queer, non-binary student-athlete — identified with the pronouns they/them/they’re and wished to have those pronouns utilized in external athletics communication materials. G transitioned from their birth name within the University of Michigan academic registrar in late 2015 and was now ready to share their identity publicly through athletic publications a year later.
For Rudner, the request was a simple one.
“In my mind, this was a student-athlete who made a pretty simple request,” Rudner said. “I thought of it similar to anyone who wanted to change their full name to a preferred name (i.e. William to Bill). I didn’t view that as any different. I was happy to be of assistance to G in this process.”
From there, Rudner worked to educate media and other institutions on G’s proper pronoun identification. If a reporter was writing a story, Rudner would explain to the writer on how to correctly refer to G in the story. He included a pronoun guide for G in his game notes and reached out to broadcasters for the televised Big Ten and NCAA Championships.