Finding a Safe Space in Sports

Overcoming gender inequality in athletics

STORY BY TYLER CREBAR | PHOTO BY NICK DANIELSON | INFOGRAPHIC BY RACHEL SIMONS

(above) Since graduating from Western in 2014, Logan Brouelette has started working in the Equal Opportunities Office helping to address gender equality on campus.

“Ladies!” A coach yells out to the women’s rowing team to get everyone’s attention. But the attention of the athletes did not turn to the coach. Instead, it fell on the one person who does not like to be called a woman. This happened almost every morning before practice, a constant reminder that someone did not belong.

Logan Brouelette, 22, is an alumni and former student-athlete at Western Washington University. Brouelette is transmasculine, a term used for those who are assigned female at birth, but identify as more male than female. Brouelette will not respond to she, her, hers, or even he, him and his, but rather prefers the neutral they, them and theirs gender pronouns.

Brouelette was a member of the women’s rowing team at Western during their freshmen and sophomore years, and then joined the women’s rugby team during their junior year. What is typically a positive experience for most student-athletes was the opposite for Brouelette. They faced transphobia from teammates and coaches.

Brouelette came out as transgender during their sophomore year in the winter of 2013.

The reaction they received from teammates and coaches was disappointing.

“It was a deer in the headlights kind of thing,” Brouelette says. “My coaches didn’t know anything about what being transgender meant.”

John Fuchs, Western’s head rowing coach, says as he talked to Brouelette he was able to better understand the situation.

“We did research regarding transgender athletes and the NCAA,” Fuchs says. “We respected Logan’s rights as a transgender athlete.”

Brouelette’s rowing coaches were most curious if they were still able to compete on a women’s team. Brouelette told them they were not going to transition because taking testosterone is illegal under NCAA rules.

Kate Newby, 22, a former teammate of Brouelette’s, says she felt the team was supportive of their decision, but it took some getting used it.

“I would have so many awkward experiences where I would say the wrong name and there would be tension,” Newby says. “It was hard readjusting, but that comes with change.”

Butch Kamena, Western’s assistant athletic director of compliance and academics, helped Brouelette with how they should come out to the team and was always open to talking about issues they were having.

CISGENDER — Denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex.

TRANSGENDER — Denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity does not conform to conventional notions of male or female gender. The red symbol (above right) is a commonly used alternative to male- and female-specific gender symbols. It does not represent all identities on the gender spectrum.

(Source: International Foundation for Gender Education)

“I try to get across to our athletes that I’m available to discuss almost any concern they may have,” Kamena said. “If I can’t find one, I try to find resources on campus that can provide one.”

Kamena also educated Brouelette about what precautions to take as a student-athlete changing their body. Brouelette ultimately decided to continue to compete on the women’s rowing team, but the transphobia had just begun.

Brouelette did not feel the same camaraderie as they once did before coming out as transgender to the team.

“There was this awkward tension of ‘lets not talk about this,’” Brouelette says. “It was an abrasive atmosphere.”

Newby agrees there was not much open talk about the situation, especially with the coaches.

“I think not addressing it was not the best way to go about it,” Newby says. “But if I was a coach I would have no idea the correct procedures to go through.”

Brouelette says the apprehension was especially difficult because in rowing trust is key.

Everyone in the boat, whether it’s behind you or in front of you, relies on one another to be on the same page, or else something can easily go wrong.

Brouelette ended their sophomore year emotionally drained. The build-up of being misgendered and called the wrong name got to Brouelette.

“One coach called me Bob when he couldn’t remember to use Logan,” Brouelette says.

“It’s one of those moments you get so uncomfortable that all you can do is laugh, but you’re crumbling inside.”- Logan Brouelette

Brouelette says you have to be flexible when talking about someone’s gender identity, but they were not in an atmosphere where they felt supported.

Fuchs says it’s important to him, the University and the NCAA that all athletes feel respected.

About a month after the season ended, Fuchs talked to Brouelette who had already made up their mind at the end of their sophomore season that they were not coming back to the team.

They wanted to focus on their goals and transition hormonally.

Brouelette shared the transphobic experiences they had encountered to staff members in Western’s Equal Opportunities Office. Their unique experience led to an internship with the office. It lasted from the spring of last year through the fall and entailed Brouelette creating a transgender guiding document for Western’s athletic department.

Newby says guidelines for coaches and athletes would be helpful after seeing how uncomfortable Brouelette was.

The transgender guiding document includes common gender pronouns, as well as how to use them in a sentence. It also includes other basic information that coaches and athletes should know to make a more inclusive environment in each respective sport.

Brouelette modeled this document after one that already exists from Mills College.

Mills College has a transgender guiding document for the entire campus, but the one Brouelette is making would be just for Western’s athletic department. They are hoping their document will be approved by the University and posted online so everyone can have easy access to it, Brouelette says. They also hope Western will eventually have an inclusion document that is more extensive like the one Mills College has.

The Equal Opportunities Office does Title IX presentations for student-athletes and coaches. Title IX is the federal law that has existed for over 40 years that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools that receive federal funding, including athletics.

Brouelette is hopeful that these Title IX presentations will include a segment on not discriminating against gender. They believe there is no reason these resources should not be easily available to everyone.

“These guiding documents for transgender students for colleges is a relatively new thing,” Brouelette says. “This stuff should just be in your face.”

Brouelette believes that women’s sports are still not regarded as highly as men’s sports.

One of the reasons Brouelette came to Western was because there is no football team and they did not want that masculine mentality present. However, they believe Western is taking the right steps to being more inclusive to all student-athletes, Brouelette says.

Brouelette says there is an increasing amount of people transitioning and believes the University needs to prepare for those individuals now. Carver Gym has the option in the renovation plan to include a gender inclusive locker room. Providing this option to athletes will make for a more inclusive environment for everyone, Brouelette says.

“It’s one of those moments you get so uncomfortable that all you can do is laugh, but you’re crumbling inside.” — Logan Brouelette

The NCAA has an Office of Inclusion that oversees the NCAA’s policies regarding gender and sexuality. Kamena says the NCAA is putting forth an honest effort to establish a fair set of policies for inclusion, but more needs to be done because transgender inclusion has been evolving so rapidly.

Brouelette graduated in fall quarter with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing. They are currently working in the Equal Opportunities Office and continue to push for positive changes in gender equality. Brouelette plans to eventually go to grad school and work in higher education administration with student issues.

Though this is a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done to help those transitioning, whether they are athletes or not, to feel more included across all college campuses.

For now, Brouelette just hopes to not be called a female again.