OUTSIDE THE LINES {OUTSIDE THE LINES FIRST REPORT} {KYE ALLUMS} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of programs which looks at issues and personalities in the sports world.
This installment discusses Kye Allums, an openly transgender college basketball player on a women’s basketball team, making him the first openly transgender athlete in Division 1 college basketball. Despite identifying as a man, Allums continues to play for the George Washington University women’s basketball team, creating a great deal of controversy at the school. Although identifying as male, Allums is still biologically female and has not yet undergone gender reassignment treatments; the designation as “male” is, at this moment, in name only, changing his name from “Kiara” to “Kye.” Allums revealed this decision to his coach and teammates in private before publicly coming out in November. At a press conference, Allums explains the reasoning behind his decision and the feeling of discomfort at being referred to as something that he wasn’t. Mike Bozeman, head coach of the team, talks about the coming out and feels that the team dealt with the news quite well on the whole. Rolanda de la Martinez, Allums’s mother, has had great difficulty with the news, still preferring to think of Allums as female and refusing to acknowledge his gender identity.
Growing up, Allums experienced difficulty in his adolescence and believed that he was a lesbian, causing a great deal of consternation with his mother. Allums notes that this marked the beginning of the breakdown with his relationship with his mother, who would never accept him the way he was. He accepted a basketball scholarship and chose George Washington University in part to distance himself from his mother, greatly straining their communication with each other. It reached the point where he felt he could not deliver the news about him coming out as transgender in person, necessitating that he tell her via email. As he expected, his mother took the news quite painfully and she recounts crying upon reading the email. However, they have worked to slowly repair their relationship over time. Allums plans to have surgery to remove his breasts as the first step of his transition, but has elected to delay the rest of the transition in order to retain his scholarship and keep playing basketball. The NCAA will permit him to remain on the team as long as he does not take any male hormones; Allums says he has not done so yet, viewing both his athletics and his education with equal importance. Despite this and the support of his team, he still feels isolated and uncomfortable, hoping that this will change once he has completed his transition. His mother is trying her best to be supportive, but is conflicted due to her Christian beliefs and does not believe that she will ever truly view Allums as male, although Allums accepts this about her.
Guests discuss the issues surrounding Allums further, including sports project director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights Helen Carroll, sports journalist Wendy Parker, and University of Maryland journalism professor Kevin Blackistone. They discuss the relation between Allums and the issues surrounding women’s basketball and George Washington University, and Allums’s personal courage and motivations. They also conjecture about what is “healthy” for Allums psychologically, and the precarious and ambiguous position that his transition places him in with respect to his scholarship and continuing education. The show also displays commentary from online commentators about the story, displaying a wide range of opinions. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ESPN
- DATE: November 30, 1999 3:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:33
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 116521
- GENRE: Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection; Sports; African-American Collection - Sports
- SERIES RUN: ESPN - TV series, 1990-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bob Ley … Host
- John Barr … Reporter
- Helen Carroll … Guest
- Wendy Parker … Guest
- Kevin Blackistone … Guest
- Kye Allums … Interviewee
- Mike Bozeman … Interviewee
- Rolanda de la Martinez … Interviewee