By Rachel Corbett. In late October 2012 the CCES (Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport) released its report, Sport in Transition: Making Sport in Canada More Responsible for Gender Inclusivity. The report documents an exploratory conversation among a select group of experts on how sport in Canada can be more inclusive of gender-diverse athletes. This [...]
Tag Archives: human rights
Including Transgendered Athletes in Sport
By Rachel Corbett. I would like to heartily congratulate the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) for creating an inclusive policy at their most recent annual meeting that will enable transgendered student-athletes to participate in college sports. The policy (which we have excerpted here) provides valuable background information that includes definitions related to gender identity as well [...]
International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Paves the Way in Creating a More Inclusive Sport Environment
By Rachel Corbett. I am in Ottawa this weekend participating in the centennial celebrations of the Canadian PGA, and I had the opportunity to have lunch with my friend and colleague Moira Lassen, who is an international official with the sport of weightlifting and a member of the IWF’s Technical Committee. Moira had just returned [...]
OFSAA Eligibility Policy Discriminatory? Or Just a Poor Fit With Organization’s Mandate
by Hilary Findlay. Direct discrimination on well-known prohibited grounds is typically easily discerned. For example, it is well-known, if not always accepted, that girls may try out for boys’ teams – whether or not there is a girls’ team available to them. Discrimination on other prohibited grounds has not been as well discussed or clarified, [...]
The Transgendered Athlete – A New Resource
Conversations about gender identity and transgender athletes are definitely going mainstream these days. Just recently there have been two high profile stories: the first openly transgender athlete competing in the NCAA, and the change to the constitution of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) to remove a requirement that members be “female at birth”. Personally, [...]
Sport Organizations and the New Occupational Health and Safety Act
On June 15th 2010, an amendment to the Occupational Health and Safety Act was signed into Ontario law which focuses on workplace harassment and violence. The new changes are important for all workplaces, including sport organizations. It is also notable that the vast majority of National Sport Organizations are incorporated under Ontario law, and have [...]
Girls Playing on Boys’ Teams
Girls wanting to play on boys’ teams…. This human rights issue has cropped up again, several times in fact, in the past short while. This timely column is about what the law actually says about girls trying out for boys’ teams and addresses some of the issues that are often raised around the issue – [...]
Case Comment – Sagen v. VANOC Appeal (2009)
Bruce Kidd (sport historian, Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education & Health at the University of Toronto and a former Olympian) describes the ski jumping feats of the Wurtle twins of Montreal back in the 1930′s [1]. Seventy-seven years later, women will not be part of the ski jumping competition at the 2010 Canadian [...]