Basketball players at Columbia Bible College (CBC) in British Columbia, Canada, signed a letter in response to an opposing team refusing to play games against CBC over alleged abuse against a transgender player.
Vancouver Island University (VIU) announced Thursday that it will not play its two games against CBC this weekend after an incident at the last meeting between the two teams in October, alleging that a CBC coach treated the athlete trans in a way that violated the coach’s rules. Code of Ethics. VIU has asked its conference, the Western Pacific Athletic Association (PACWEST), not to penalize its team for not playing games due to the nature of the situation.
VIU transgender player Harriette Mackenzie has made public statements alleging that CBC coaches and players behaved abusively.
The CBC players’ letter, obtained by Pak Gazette Digital, condemns the VIU team for “personal attacks,” “defamatory comments” and even “comments inciting violence” against their coach.
“Videos and letters posted by members of the VIU women’s basketball team over the past three months have directly violated multiple rules set forth in Article 17.2 of the handbook. Various posts have included ‘personal attacks,’ ‘defamatory comments,’ ‘lack of respect towards the PACWEST,’ and led to ‘comments that incite violence and/or hatred’ directed at our coach,” the letter said.
“Any and all allegations made by VIU players regarding our team and coach should have been communicated directly only to PACWEST officials, they should not have been publicly posted on social media.”
The letter even called the VIU players’ statements “misinformation.”
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“The attack on Coach Claggett’s character and the character of our team over the past three months has been based on misinformation and one side of a complicated scenario,” it said.
Mackenzie has posted a video to the athlete’s Instagram page on Oct. 30, alleging that Columbia Bible head coach Taylor Clagett “cornered one of our athletic staff and went on a tirade about how I shouldn’t be allowed to play.”
Mackenzie said a Columbia Bible player also deliberately knocked her to the ground for a foul.
“No. 13 knocked me to the ground with both hands with no ball play in sight, and then you can see head coach Clagett clapping in support,” the trans athlete said.
Mackenzie helped lead the Mariners to the 2022-23 Canadian Universities Athletic Association national championship. This season, the athlete is second in the PACWEST in scoring with 16.1 points per game and third in rebounds with 9.4 per game, as VIU is 11-1 in the conference. Mackenzie also ranks second in the conference in shooting percentage at 49.7%.
“I think all trans people should be included in sport. But it’s especially infuriating for me, because I’m playing, and forced to play, at a huge biological disadvantage,” Mackenzie said in the video. “I never went through a male puberty. I only went through a female puberty. And I don’t have ovaries, I don’t have testicles, so I have no way to make testosterone.”
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The CBC players’ letters also claim that the VIU team has violated the standard procedure for canceling games, and PACWEST has not held VIU to proper standards.
“In the past, when a team refused to participate and travel to a scheduled game, they received 0 standings points. By postponing games this weekend, PACWEST has contradicted standard operating procedure. No clear justification has been provided to our team to justify this deviation from normal procedures,” the letter said.
“Additionally, Article 13, section 9.1.1 states that if a team is unable to attend a scheduled game, the coach or athletic director must contact the opposing athletic director to ‘indicate the reason for its inability to fulfill its commitment. programmed’. As far as we know, this requirement was not met.”
The CBC players, who until now have remained silent, believe they can no longer.
“Up to this point we have remained silent. We have shown respect to PacWest and VIU over the past few months by staying off social media and expressing our concerns through official channels. The VIU women’s basketball team has not shared the same respect toward PacWest. or CBC and has communicated primarily on social media,” the letter said.
“Your behavior has been rewarded in the way your refusal to play this weekend has been handled. We write this letter to ensure that our voices are heard in this conversation and that the respect we have shown throughout this process Don’t be confused with passivity.”
As of June 2017, all places within Canada explicitly under the Canadian Human Rights Act, equal opportunity and/or anti-discrimination legislation prohibit discrimination against gender identity or the expression of gender identity. This law protects the inclusion of all trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.
In the United States, President-elect Trump has promised to ban trans athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. Trump has also repeatedly suggested that Canada join the United States, potentially as the 51st state.
