Major sports franchises support transgender rights

Julieta Rodrigo // Staff Writer

A few organizations including the Human Rights Campaign, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Equality Federation, the National Center for Transgender Equality urged the NCAA to boycott cities and states enacting laws to allow discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

In response, on March 13, 2017, NCAA President Mark Emmert publicly reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to LGBTQ inclusion in their championship tournaments and events, according to an HRC press released the following day.

Emmert wrote that “the Board and I are committed to [inclusivity], and we expect that all people will be welcomed and treated with respect at our events.”

The NCAA does not stand alone in this commitment. ESPN reported that the NBA All-Star Game was moved out of North Carolina because legislators failed to repeal HB2, a law which requires transgender people to use bathrooms based on the sex registered on their birth certificate and not by the gender in which they currently identified. The All-Star Game was then moved and held in New Orleans, where the city boasts LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination protections.

According to Dallas News, the NFL has publicly scorned Texas’s SB 6, a bill that would allow state agencies and schools to discriminate against transgender people, and warned the state that Texas would not be a contender to host the Super Bowl or other events if the bill is enacted.

Manny Quevedo, a physical education graduate and front desk attendant at the BBC Wellness and Recreation Center, told FIUSM that he wasn’t aware of these recent events.

“I had no idea they [were supporting transgender rights],” said Quevedo. “So it’s a nice surprise that they are accepting of people’s different lifestyles.”

Quevedo commented that he will continue to support franchises like the NBA and the NFL, and hopes to see more inclusion in the future.

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