Kye Allums, 21, recently came out as a transgender man playing division I basketball for George Washington University, the first trans person to do so. Teammates and coach have been supportive of Kye. Brooke Wilson, one of Allums’ closest friends on the team stated “at first I didn’t understand, and then he explained that sex is how you’re born and gender is how you identify yourself. Then I started to understand.”
“GW has been supportive during this transition. This means a lot. I didn’t choose to be born in this body and feel the way I do. I decided to transition — that is, change my name and pronouns — because it bothered me to hide who I am, and I am trying to help myself and others to be who they are,” Kye said in a statement on the George Washington University website.
According to Royer, as long as Allums does not accept hormone treatments, he is eligible to participate in NCAA women’s sports. In October, the National Center for Lesbian Rights released a report called, “On The Team: Equal Opportunity for Transgender Student Athletes,” in conjunction with It Takes A Team. The report was developed with the help of many subject-matter experts, including the NCAA. One recommendation of the report is for schools to adopt polices that “focus on maximizing inclusiveness, rather than restricting students’ opportunities to participate based on their gender identity or expression.”
Allums is further protected by Washington, D.C., law, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. [source]