What Should New Policy Look Like?

The following ideas are only a starting point for this conversation.

Ideas for a healthy policy creation process.

The process for USA Climbing’s Transgender Athlete Participation Policy has been hidden from the community. There were no attempts to ask the community for input, and there was no announcement of changes coming — or media when the new policy was released.

There are currently no trans, nonbinary, or intersex climbers working on the Transgender Athlete Participation Policy Committee. This is an unacceptable starting point.

Before we dive into what specific policy might look at, we need to imagine a new process by which policy like this is created. The following are considerations that a should be made for creating a new policy process.

  • This is not simple work. A statement of intent, explanation of the process, and a nuanced recognition of the difficulties may be warranted. It is ok to acknowledge the ways that a policy may still be imperfect, so long as a purposeful and good faith effort is made to include the above elements.

  • Policy creation should not be spoken about with hushed voices or behind closed doors. The process of its creation should be available to the community.

  • When a policy impacts a specific group of people, the voices of those most impacted must be included. Additionally, no single person can write this policy because no single person encompasses the many experiences of being trans.

    A range of trans perspectives should be heard; notably transfeminine climbers, trans, nonbinary, and intersex athletes, parents/coaches of trans climbers, and medical experts on gender affirming care.

  • While there is a lack of research in the area of gender-affirming care and athletic performance — notably in competition conditions or climbing — we can still hope to include educated voices in the trans medical care community. This will help provide context for issues of fairness and physiology, while also lending insight on trans healthcare expectations, medical privacy, and testing timelines.

  • A racially homogenous group of trans folks will inevitably create a policy that does not properly include the unique ways race and trans identities intersect and create a unique experience as a climber. A good process is one that accounts for the ways that a trans person’s race will impact their experience.

  • A trans-inclusive policy is one that does not just tell trans people how to compete, but rather A trans-inclusive policy is one that does not just tell trans people how to compete, but rather includes active protections for trans climbers, best practices to the community, and requirements for staff, volunteers, coaches, and gyms who are going to be working with trans climbers. This includes actionable consequences for violations of these protections.best practices to the community, and requirements for staff, volunteers, coaches, and gyms who are going to be working with trans climbers. This includes actionable consequences for violations of these protections.

  • Policy like this does not need to be scary to write! It should be a fun and welcoming experience to imagine ways to welcome trans climbers to compete. We have an abundance of creative and generative energy and ideas for how these policies can look. And if created in collaboration with people who care, we can enjoy the process together.

Elements and Considerations for trans-inclusive policies.

We've called on USA Climbing to indefinitely suspend their Transgender Athlete Participation Policy and rewrite it with trans, nonbinary, and intersex voices... But what would this actually look like?

While we will never claim to be able to speak for our entire community, here are a few ideas to imagine a healthier trans-inclusive policy. Good policy must include the following elements:

  • Obviously the big one. In many ways, being a trans climber in competition comes with unique challenges. A good policy would consider these challenges and find ways to support trans climbers to ensure fairness toward trans climbers — not just from them.

    Examples include; Competitions should be held in states without harmful trans legislation and offer gender-inclusive facilities, in addition to providing the community with materials on how to support trans climbers and understand the policy.

  • We must recognize the ways that trans people, youth specifically, are being targeted right now. Good policy might outline the specific ways in which climber information will be protected, and what consequences staff, volunteers, and spectators will face if personal information about trans climbers is mishandled or released. It also includes the context of how state laws may impact trans climbers who are being expected to compete.

  • The specific ways in which privacy will be protected should be outlined in any policy which requires the reporting of personal or medical information. An explanation for what information will be stored, how it will be kept safe, and who will have access to the information. Furthermore, a description of what consequences staff or volunteers may face for failure to maintain the privacy of athletes should be included as well.

  • Information that is not directly relevant to competition performance should not be required. Many harmful trans participation policies require an abundance of personal and private information about our experiences, diagnosis, and bodies that humiliate, demean, and discourage trans athletes from competing.

  • Policy authors should have an understanding of what constitutes information as "medically relevant" and be aware of the average costs and turnaround times for testing and other required procedures.

    This awareness demonstrates that an organization understands the experience of trans climbers and helps to ensure that policy requirements are fair and reasonably attainable if given deadline requirements.

  • As of December 2023, any policy requiring medical transition effectively bans youth competitors in 22 states due to state laws that prohibit best-practice medical care for transgender youth.

    Any policy that bans climbers from competing because it does not include an exception clause for extenuating circumstances is by definition, an exclusionary policy.