Mandatory Sensitivity Training

OBERLIN, Ohio (CBS Cleveland) – Oberlin College is considering a set of rules in the athletics department which would include mandatory transgender sensitivity training for all of its staff and coaches.

The “Guidelines for Inclusion and Respectful Treatment of Intercollegiate Transgender Student Athletes” was developed for the college by the school’s Transgender Participation Advisory Committee,Campus Reform reported.

“It is basically intended to sort of be a 101,” Emily Clarke, a junior and member of the committee, told Campus Reform. “We also talk about choice, privilege and agency in presentation of gender and pronouns and ends with trans-allyship do’s and don’ts. It’s basically like, don’t question people about their transitioning processes, respect pronouns and names, don’t use ‘ladies’ or ‘gentlemen’ when addressing a group of people.”

The new guidelines would replace pronouns “he/him/his/she/her/hers” with “they/them/theirs.”

Besides training, the new policy would also require that the athletic department documents replace “FTM” (female-to-male and “MTF (male-to-female) with “a transgender student-athlete who was designated a female at birth and is/is not taking medically prescribed hormone replacement therapy related to gender transition” and “a transgender student-athlete who was designated a male at birth and is/is not taking medically prescribed hormone replacement therapy related to gender transition,” Campus Forum reported.

The new guidelines would require athletic department staff to attend training, Clarke explained.

The committee is still seeking feedback on the guidelines drafted and has not yet discussed enforcement of the policy with the college.