Iowa’s goal should be sports for all

Like racers propelling a bobsled, Republicans at the Iowa Statehouse are past the curve of the first funnel week. Tucked and hurdling toward victory, a discriminatory bill intended to target transgender student athletes in most intercollegiate and interscholastic environments will hit the desk of an enthusiastic Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Rarely have locker rooms, let alone school sports, offered solace to gender-nonconforming youth and young adults. For the select number of queer youth who have been able to find joy and dignity in school-based sports, most tend to compete with the squad that provides the most social support, and hence safety.

During a time when bodies, minds, and spirits are still developing, both Iowa athletic unions and college governing bodies have issued guidance that promotes meaningful inclusion for a highly underrepresented population. These institutions know that lessons harvested from participation are richest when the competitive field is full.

As our nation approaches the 50th anniversary of Title IX, I am sickened to hear this statue used as a discriminatory cudgel. In 2005 I paused a lucrative career in sport to relocate to Iowa, where I studied alongside scholars and administrators whose life’s work was dedicated to expanding sport.

According to the Minnesota Sports Commission, participation for high school girls has increased 1,057 percent, and 647 percent for college women, and are still outpaced by boys and men. There is no shortage of spots, only a shortage of imagination and courage to crack the door to the gym a little wider.

Sarah Eikleberry

Davenport