Facilities focus on gender inclusion
Taranaki sporting and recreational facilities appear geared up for gender inclusion as national guidelines for transgender participation are drafted behind the scenes.
Trans participation in sport has grabbed headlines of late across the globe, including by New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, who became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Olympic Games.
Last week, Boxing New Zealand announced it would establish an open category to allow transgender athletes to compete against each other.
Gender inclusion in club sports, like darts, has also made headlines.
Victoria Monaghan, a transgender woman who is affiliated to a Waitara-based club, faced a possible ban in June, which would have prevented her playing in a regional tournament, because the national association did not have a transgender policy.
There was a subsequent backdown, and now Monaghan will become the first transgender woman to compete at the World Darts Federation’s World Darts Championships in England next year.
Statistics NZ said about 0.8% of the population are transgender, which can be defined as a person assigned a sex and gender at birth that they disagree with.
The dearth of policy to help guide clubs regarding trans participation is something Sport New Zealand is working to rectify. It is developing a set of guiding principles, work it embarked on after several national sporting bodies got in touch seeking help.
Consultation has been sought, and a final version is due for release later this year or early 2023.
Ada Greig, of Gender Minorities Aotearoa, said along with any guidelines, clubs and community sport groups needed to have updated bullying or harassment policies to ensure a proper process was available to deal with unfair treatment.
It was important to provide a safe space for all participants of sport, or other activities, as the opposite situation was a barrier to participation, Greig said.
‘‘It’s one of the reasons we don’t see a lot of trans women in sport.’’
Research highlighted other practical barriers for transgender men and women to play sport, including uniform style and access to changing rooms.
Regarding the latter, a review of Taranaki sporting facilities has shown they are up to scratch, or improving, on that front.
New Plymouth District Council property manager Laura Keenan said the organisation was committed to ensuring its facilities were accessible for everyone.
Under its purview, NPDC manages facilities including TSB Stadium and Todd Energy Aquatic Centre.
Keenan said the swimming complex had six self-contained toilet and change facilities suitable for whānau or individuals.
Over time and as budgets allowed, NPDC will look to upgrade signs at existing facilities, including TSB Stadium.
Phil Waite, South Taranaki District Council’s property and facilities operations manager, said Hāwera’s TSB Hub had genderneutral changing rooms throughout the complex.
Along with the 10 changing rooms on site, two additional, outdoor unisex toilets near the netball courts were under consideration.
‘‘We also liaise closely with the neighbouring Hāwera High School (who use the facility for their physical education programme) about any needs they may have in respect of accommodating gender diversity,’’ Waite said.
Kelly Moeahu, operations manager at Whai Tapuwae No Rōngo sport and community hub in Waitara, said ensuring its facilities were as inclusive as possible was on its radar.
‘‘Our facility has experienced significant growth in terms of patronage and usage in the past year, which is only forecast to continue moving forward. So to appropriately meet the demands of this increased activity, we are in the planning stages of new changing room/public toilet amenity project which will have a mixture of gender and unisex toilets.’’
Gender-neutral bathrooms are also part of the $70 million Yarrow Stadium rebuild.