Alberta’s ‘Fairness and Safety in Sport Act’ criticized as misogynistic, homophobic

The start of the school year also means the start of another season of school sports for many Alberta school children.

But female athletes who are hoping to try out for the school team will need to pack something extra in their gym bag this year.

Parents of girls age 12 and older who want to play sports will also need to fill out a government form declaring what their child’s sex was recorded as at birth.

The new provincial rules — called the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act — that came into effect Monday also provide a way for people to challenge a player’s gender.

According to the Calgary Board of Education’s new policy, if a written complaint is made against an athlete, the minister would need to be notified and the parent or guardian would need to provide a copy of the child’s birth certificate or birth “registration documents.”

Leah Elzinga, who has two daughters involved in school sports in Edmonton, called the new policy “crazy.”

Her 20-year-old daughter, Samantha, is coaching high school volleyball this year for the first time.

“She messaged me and said, ‘Mom, you’re never going to believe what the girls have to fill out,’ so they have to fill out a form that declares that they were born female at birth — they absolutely cannot opt out of it,” Elzinga said.

“If everybody on the team doesn’t sign it, the whole team can not only not play games or tournaments, they can’t even practice together. So it’s an all or nothing.”

“We had one girl stand there as soon as our vice principal was done talking about it and immediately (she asked) does this apply to the boys’ players, and it doesn’t.  To me that just speaks volumes that it’s not about fairness in play — it’s not — that’s not what it’s about,” said  Samantha Elzinga.

“It’s not about fairness in play — because if it was about unfairness in play, it would apply to all players.”

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“This whole fairness in play thing is a guise to hide transphobia and misogyny, and it’s ridiculous,” she added.

Victoria Bucholtz of Queer momentum, a 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy group, called the policy “incredibly sexist.”

“These are very invasive laws that violate the privacy of these children,” said Bucholtz.  “And this doesn’t just affect transgender children. This is targeting every child that has been assigned female at birth.”

She accuses the provincial government of “punishing girls,” and yet, “it’s happy with boys doing what they want.”

On the streets of Calgary, the policy gets a mixed response — especially because it only targets female sports.

“I don’t think it’s right,” said Kim Monastersky.

Dale Dobson said the policy should apply to both girls’ and boys’ teams.

“Rules are rules, so it should apply to both sexes,” said Dobson.

But he also supports some parts of the policy.

“If you’re born a female, my attitude is you should stay a female and if you want to go into the sports, you should be on the female team,” said Dobson.

But that’s an argument that doesn’t sit well with Leah Elzinga.

“I think that people that argue that a 14-year-old boy is bigger and stronger…than my girls is ridiculous and hasn’t been inside a junior high or a high school in a long time.  I think they’ve also never seen female athletes.  They haven’t seen a 6-foot-8 volleyball player with legs the size of tree trunks that could destroy you. Girls are plenty strong. They’re doing just fine. This is a non-issue. It’s ridiculous.  It is so insulting to female athletes,” she added.

In an email to Global News, the Calgary Board of Education said, “all school boards in Alberta—including the CBE—are required to align their practices and policies to comply with the new legal framework.”

“Our primary goal is to ensure full compliance with the law while continuing to support the well-being, inclusion, and development of all students participating in school sports.”

Global Calgary reached out to the province for a response to concerns over the policy, but didn’t hear back.

However  in an email to an inquiry by Global Edmonton earlier this week, Alberta’s Ministry of Tourism and Sport responded with a statement.

“Sport is for everyone, which is why Alberta’s government is working to make sport safe, fair and accessible for all Albertans,” the statement read.

“Questions on how specific in-scope entities, such as school authorities, are implementing the new legislation should be directed to the individual organizations,” the statement added.

The province also said it supports the expansion of mixed-gender leagues or divisions to ensure transgender athletes can participate.

Leah Elzinga said she’ll sign the form — for now.

But she will continue to “get loud” to advocate for her children and for all those who are unable or afraid to advocate for themselves.

“We have a number of non-binary kiddos in our lives that it’s really going to hurt them to have to declare themselves as something other than what they are just to be able to keep doing what they’re doing,” said Elzinga.

“I never thought I would have to declare my kid was anything,” added Elzina.  “You know. What’s between her legs — it’s between me, her and her doctor and it should stay that way.”

-with files from Global News’ Kabi Moulitharan