Statement on USAC's Transgender Athlete Participation Policy
To the Climbing Community,
It has come to my attention that although I have resigned from my post as USA Climbing’s DEI Committee chair in October 2023 and allowed my administrative membership to expire, USA Climbing still has me listed on their website as their DEI representative. I want to address the reasons in which I have resigned, as well as the allegation that I personally approved of the current iteration of the USA Climbing Transgender Athlete Participation Policy. While there is, as always, a longer and more complex story - I believe that trans, nonbinary, and intersex climbers belong in our sport.
Since 2019 I have been working with USA Climbing toward diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. As a member and co-chair of the DEI Task Force from 2019-2021, I helped produce initiatives and recommendations for USA Climbing, presenting them to our Board of Directors, during which they approved the DEI Task Force to become a Committee. From 2021-2023 I have helped lead the DEI Committee as Chair, and most recently as Vice Chair under Connie Lightner, through many equity topics with staff and Board; including conversations, presentations, policy drafts, and recommendations. Each of these actions have been no small feat as we navigated tough subjects together; such as gender inclusion, non-citizen/permanent resident inclusion, hiring equity, privacy confidentiality, financial transparency, the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, media representation, and best practice recommendations.
That said, as a Board-led committee, it is ultimately up to the organization to take ownership of the diversity, equity, inclusion goals and utilize the expertise of the committee as a whole. The lack of utilization of the DEI Committee's expertise is ultimately what made it too difficult to continue with my position within this committee.
In regards to the Transgender Athlete Participation Policy, USA Climbing’s DEI Committee began work on an initial draft of a Gender Inclusion Policy at the beginning of 2022. During a nine month period we worked thoroughly as a group to provide thoughtful insight on how to expand the language of the policy previously published in 2015, including questions for the staff and Board as to how to implement non-binary participation. As a USA Climbing Representative, from March 2022 to October 2023, I consulted with the USOPC as a member of their gender inclusion working group, helping educate their organization on gender inclusion initiatives. I utilized the USOPC’s public education efforts and presented the DEI Committee’s Gender Inclusion Policy draft with objectives to the USA Climbing’s Board in September 2022, in the hope of creating a more expansive look at gender inclusion and continuing to uphold the core values of USAC; especially Athlete First, Diversity and Inclusiveness.
After the September 2022 presentation at a closed Board meeting, communication with USA Climbing leadership about our Gender Inclusion Policy ceased. We were told that the Board was working through our draft policy and it was going to take some time until they were ready to discuss further. It wasn’t until June 2023 that USA Climbing leadership wanted to continue work on the policy, which is when I was asked to participate in a working group due to my professional experience within the climbing community and as a transgender individual, separate from my DEI Committee role.
During this process, the DEI Committee’s original Gender Inclusion Policy was gutted, while the language was replaced with specific directives from USA Climbing leadership, labeled as the Transgender Athlete Participation Policy. The agreement, and thus the assumption, was that any drafted policy would be reviewed by relevant stakeholders, outside entities, and legal counsel before being published and implemented. As demonstrated by the published policy, this is not what happened. Through the summer of 2023 I voiced my opinions of disapproval and provided many alternative solutions, however I was met with constant rebuttal from leadership. While there are drafts, parts of drafts, and various statements I gave my “approval” for, I at no time endorsed the publishing of the policy as it stands today.
Here is one of my statements made to the leadership team in September 2023:
“This is a policy that USAC has to take full responsibility of if it is going to be published, therefore a statement should come from the CEO and Board President themselves. I do believe it is important that USAC upholds its values of diversity and inclusion, which unfortunately this policy cannot be enacted with equity. As 21 states currently ban best practice gender affirming care for youth, with 5 of those states making gender affirming care for youth a felony, it means almost half of our nation’s competitive climbers in B, A, and Jr would be unable to comply with the requirements of the Transgender Athlete Participation Policy. Looking at the political climate, the implication is that this care will also become restricted for adults in the near future.
I think USAC should be asking itself how best to protect their members and athletes in such unprecedented times, including consulting with LGBTQ+ legal counsel in regards to enforcing best practices for transgender athletes, hosting championship events in states that do not ban best practice medical care for transgender individuals and women, as well as regulating HIPAA compliance or the equivalent in member confidentiality across the organization before this policy is published.”
As a professional climbing and fitness coach, it is part of my mission, vision, and core values to advocate for the diversity, equity, and inclusion of all people. I believe that it is important to take responsibility for our actions as individuals and as institutions, sharing information about major processes as transparently as possible.
I would like to extend my gratitude, once again, to the staff of USA Climbing and the members of the USA Climbing Board of Directors. Thank you for the opportunity to work through these tough topics and represent USA Climbing. It has been an incredible four years and I am proud of the hardworking individuals on the DEI Committee that selflessly volunteered their time and efforts for the sake of progress. I am heartened to see that USA Climbing has heard the voice of the climbing community, and has chosen to pause the Transgender Athlete Participation Policy while they examine further options. I look forward to the USAC staff and Board engaging further with the transgender, nonbinary, and intersex climbing community - as well as medical and legal experts - to craft a safer, more scientifically minded policy going forward. I would also like to formally request that USA Climbing update their website to reflect that I am no longer affiliated with their DEI Committee.
Malcom Mel Godowski
Update on 12/8/23:
USA Climbing has updated their Committee webpage to reflect the most up to date members. To USA Climbing Leadership: Thank you for reading my statement and making this timely update. I look forward to the involvement of other transgender, nonbinary, and intersex climbing community members in your Transgender Athlete Participation Policy rewrite.