Please respond to this message only if you are trans/non-binary and train BJJ. Thank you!
Q: If someone were to run a tournament exclusively for trans/non-binary athletes, how would you expect them to structure the divisions?
For example, in your traditional bjj tournament format, divisions are usually divided into men's and women's divisions, then divided by skill, weight, and sometimes age.
If you were to sign up for a tournament designed especially for you, what would it look like?
An interesting question, and no, I'm not non-binary or trans, but I do think that the biggest problem with such a tournament is the relatively small number of potential contestants. Unless it were being held on a massive scale, it would amplify the problem that many small tournaments face whereby there aren't enough people in a particular weight class or age or experience division so that everyone is guaranteed even matches. That being said, some organization such as Triangles Everywhere might be able to pull it off if there were enough incentive.
"I do think that the biggest problem with such a tournament is the relatively small number of potential contestants. Unless it were being held on a massive scale, it would amplify the problem that many small tournaments face whereby there aren't enough people in a particular weight class or age or experience division so that everyone is guaranteed even matches. That being said, some organization such as Triangles Everywhere might be able to pull it off if there were enough incentive."
We run small, "boutique" tournaments all the time. We just finished up a "novice" tournament yesterday. We have to cap our entries at 50, since we just can't capacitate many more.
I'm fairly confident we could run something small, if we do it right. I'm just curious what would be important to someone who would participate in this type of tournament to see if it's something we could pull off.
I know you asked only for trans or nb folks to reply, but this specific situation, it's a numbers and visibility issue.
When it comes to visibility, the political situation now is dangerous enough to where people like Mark and myself have to speak on behalf of the trans and nb folks we know to have anything to be said at all.
When it comes to numbers, the NCAA has 530,000+ enrolled student athletes and it was testified in front of the Senate committee that "less than 10" were trans. That's across all sports and universities that the NCAA covers.
I think the numbers are a bit higher than that, but not substantially so. Again, it's largely a matter of safety and those who are not wanting to identify themselves to be seen as anything other than what they present as. No ulterior motive when it comes to athletics, just a matter of respecting their genuine selves and wishing not to become a target in the current political climate.
To use another example when it comes to the issue of numbers, there is a Deaf/Hard of Hearing BJJ group on Facebook I was involved in and the admin (who is on here), Garrett Scott, often competes.
I can't always find brackets or results, but for 2017, the brackets had to be reduced to Light, Medium, Heavy, some belts merged and age brackets completely eliminated. For the entirety of Brown and Black Belts, all age ranges, there was only one bracket: Heavy. Just two competitors there.
I considered attending one year and saw that if I had the previous, I would have had one possible match as a white belt and it would have been against a Black Belt. Garrett himself. If they would have even bothered to have us compete.
There simply wasn't enough people to make it possible to do anything else.
The trans or nb situation is similar, again if not for issues with having to be more visible than most would want to be. To sign up, to have public results is to out ones' self, and not everyone is willing to do that if just for a BJJ competition.
I know this doesn't remotely answer your question, but that's the reality of it right now and why attempts to identify and/or exclude Trans people from sports seems especially cruel and disproportionately focused on. MTF Trans athletes aren't entering female athletic competitions and slaughtering the brackets anyway (transitioning involves changing hormones to that of your presenting gender, not keeping any imagined advantage) and female at birth athletes who dope still get a pass as just women who dope (eg, Gabbi)
That said, there is a BJJ gym in Seattle who has done LGBT+ (Specifically: Trans and Queer) comps. Their brackets are skill, weight and gender. They try to set it up so that people have at least two matches. This isn't always possible without combining belts, weight classes or presentation... Just as it is with the Deaf BJJ Comp.
While they posted some pictures on Instagram, the brackets, names and results were not published.
It is also relevant, that Intersex people, have biological conditions, that are usually congenital, and can from birth, have qualities that are male like and female like, or neither.
That Intersex population is about 1.7% or so of the human population, or about the same percentage of the human population who have naturally red hair.
And while there may be some overlap with the Intersex demographic, and the trans by self-identification demographic in individual cases,
They are otherwise two very different demographics, scientifically, medically, and biologically that are often conflated for political reasons, incorrectly from a science, medicine, and biology perspective, by both Progressives and Conservatives.
Intersex is a true third, or non-binary, biological sex type, that occurs from birth, biologically.
As opposed to trans by self-identification, which is a matter of identification of and with the social construct of gender, if one accepts or uses that definition of gender - and clearly that is a matter of social philosophy that not everyone agrees on, nor that everyone agrees to affirm.
"I know you asked only for trans or nb folks to reply, but this specific situation, it's a numbers and visibility issue. When it comes to visibility, the political situation now is dangerous enough to where people like Mark and myself have to speak on behalf of the trans and nb folks we know to have anything to be said at all. When it comes to numbers, the NCAA has 530,000+ enrolled student athletes and it was testified in front of the Senate committee that 'less than 10' were trans. That's across all sports and universities that the NCAA covers. I think the numbers are a bit higher than that, but not substantially so. Again, it's largely a matter of safety and those who are not wanting to identify themselves to be seen as anything other than what they present as. No ulterior motive when it comes to athletics, just a matter of respecting their genuine selves and wishing not to become a target in the current political climate. To use another example when it comes to the issue of numbers, there is a Deaf/Hard of Hearing BJJ group on Facebook I was involved in and the admin (who is on here), Garrett Scott, often competes. I can't always find brackets or results, but for 2017, the brackets had to be reduced to Light, Medium, Heavy, some belts merged and age brackets completely eliminated. For the entirety of Brown and Black Belts, all age ranges, there was only one bracket: Heavy. Just two competitors there. I considered attending one year and saw that if I had the previous, I would have had one possible match as a white belt and it would have been against a Black Belt. Garrett himself. If they would have even bothered to have us compete. There simply wasn't enough people to make it possible to do anything else. The trans or nb situation is similar, again if not for issues with having to be more visible than most would want to be. To sign up, to have public results is to out ones' self, and not everyone is willing to do that if just for a BJJ competition. I know this doesn't remotely answer your question, but that's the reality of it right now and why attempts to identify and/or exclude Trans people from sports seems especially cruel and disproportionately focused on. MTF Trans athletes aren't entering female athletic competitions and slaughtering the brackets anyway (transitioning involves changing hormones to that of your presenting gender, not keeping any imagined advantage) and female at birth athletes who dope still get a pass as just women who dope (eg, Gabbi) That said, there is a BJJ gym in Seattle who has done LGBT+ (Specifically: Trans and Queer) comps. Their brackets are skill, weight and gender. They try to set it up so that people have at least two matches. This isn't always possible without combining belts, weight classes or presentation... Just as it is with the Deaf BJJ Comp. While they posted some pictures on Instagram, the brackets, names and results were not published."
Perfectly well thought out and stated opinion. Thank you for your insight. The media and political climate has made a non-issue a huge talking point and warped it out of proportion. In my mind there are two major reasons a Trans/nonbinary only tournament most likely wouldn't work.
1. As stated by almost everyone here, Trans and Nonbinary people make up less than one .001 percent of the population by some estimates. BJJ practitioners make up another small number of the population as well. So, to combine those two would make a very rare person indeed.
2. It would require a Trans or Nonbinary person to "out" themselves which could turn into a spectacle for the far right political atmosphere and become a never-ending internet meme. Which may, depending on the individual, be exactly what they don't want to do. I generally get the impression that most trans/nonbinary people simply want to exist and live their life.
3. This final point isn't exactly answering the question of a tournament. However, I think it speaks volumes, that of the tens of thousands of BJJ practitioners on belt checker, this thread has yet to receive a single response from a trans/nonbinary person "outing" themselves as being non/binary or trans. Again, more evidence that it is a non-issue, despite what the media would influence someone to believe.
"In my mind there are two major reasons a Trans/nonbinary only tournament most likely wouldn't work. 1. As stated by almost everyone here, they make up less than one .001 percent of the population by some estimates. BJJ practitioners make up an small number of the population as well. So to combine those two would make a very rare person indeed. 2. It would require a Trans or Non binary person to 'out' themselves for could turn into a spectacle for the far right and become a never-ending internet meme. Which may, depending on the individual, be exactly what they don't want to do. I generally get the impression that most trans/nonbinary people simply want to exist and live their life. 3. This final point isn't exactly answering the question of a tournament, but i think it speaks volumes, that of the tens of thousands of BJJ practitioners on belt checker, you have yet to receive a single response from a trans/nonbinary person who has outed themselves as being non/binary or trans. Again, more evidence that it is a non-issue, despite what the media would influence you to believe."
To respond to your points:
1) You're right. There aren't many trans/non-binary grapplers in the world, but I would estimate that there are probably more than 1,000, especially if you include occasional/white belt grapplers. I live in a fairly progressive town (Asheville) and have trained dozens. In fact, there have been more trans/non-binary grapplers who have come through my gym than Black people, which is crazy, especially since we're in the South.
2) All the people I mentioned in point #1 are already "out". I think the specticals/memes you're referring to typically involve trans women who compete in the female division. I had a trans-male competitor who competed regularly in the men's division and nobody batted an eye.
I think that by hosting this type of tournament, we'd be satisfying all sides: since most of the larger competition organizations take issue with trans athletes competing in their tournaments, this offers the perfect solution: these competitors don't compete in those tournaments and instead compete in their "own" divisions.
Everybody wins, so to speak.
3) Out of all these people, there's a total of like 30 of us who post on here anyway, lmao.
Just a thought by limiting the responses to only trans \ non-binary you are requring people to out them selves. This may prevent some people responding.
"Just a thought by limiting the responses to only trans non-binary you are requring people to out them selves. This may prevent some people responding."
Obviously nobody's paying attention to any of the limitations I've placed on them 😂
All good though. I'm getting some solid feedback from some of my students as well as others with whom I've connected through various channels.
