NCAA Gets First Openly Transgender B-Ball Player

Kye Allums debuts as a man this season
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 2, 2010 8:32 PM CDT
NCAA Gets First Openly Transgender B-Ball Player
Tennessee's Alyssia Brewer (33) grabs a rebound as she's defended by George Washington's Tara Booker, right, and Kay-Kay Allums (50) during an NCAA college basketball game Dec. 1, 2009 in Tenn.   (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

When George Washington University’s basketball season begins later this month, an openly transgender player will play on the women’s team for the first time in Division I. Kye Allums (formerly Kay-Kay) has played for the team since 2008. Teammates knew Allums then as female, but she subsequently came out to the team as a man, TBD reports. The student-athlete has not yet started taking testosterone (which would disqualify Allums from the women's team) or undergone sex-reassignment surgery.

“Luckily, Allums' coach and teammates are supportive of his transition—but it will be interesting to see how the NCAA handles the situation,” writes Tracy Clark-Flory on Salon. “It has no official policy on transgender athletes, other than to go by the student's gender according to their state ID.” That’s not a problem for Allums, who wants to continue playing for the women’s team, but it could pose a problem for other transgender athletes. Click here for more.
(More NCAA stories.)

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