OOYL Book Club: April Selection

'Fair Play' by Katie Barnes

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The April selection for the Out of Your League Book Club is one I’m really excited about.

I have enjoyed our first few book clubs immensely, and I appreciate everyone who is showing up and being so engaged with the discussion and the content. Thank you so much for helping build the OOYL community into something thriving and lovely. I couldn't do any of this without you all being here with me.

I’m thrilled to announce our selection for April: Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates by Katie Barnes.

Katie Barnes has been a staff writer at ESPN since 2015, writing incredible features and profiles that I’ve often studied when I need to remind myself what good sportswriting looks like. They are also one of the few trans journalists who have been reporting from the intersection of sports and trans participation. ‘FAIR PLAY’ is the culmination of their years of work on the topic. From the book’s summary:

As attitudes toward gender have shifted to embrace more fluidity in recent decades, sex continues to be viewed as a static binary that is easily determined: male or female. It is on the very idea of static sex that we have built an entire sporting apparatus. Now that foundation is being hotly debated as a result of intense culture wars.

Many transgender and intersex athletes, including a South African runner, a wrestler in Texas, a Connecticut track star, and a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, have captured the attention of law and policymakers who want to decide how and when they compete. Women’s sports, since their inception, have been seen as a separate class of competition that requires protection and rules for entry. But what are those rules and who gets to make them? Fair Play looks at all sides of the issue and presents a reasoned and much-needed solution that seeks to preserve opportunities for all going forward.

Something I deeply respect about Katie is the diligence with which they approach their work and reporting. Their rigorous reporting and compassionate approach to feature-writing allows them to gain the trust of sources on all sides of even the most contentious issues, which is incredibly difficult to do.

‘FAIR PLAY’ is based on years of work and, as a result, is the most comprehensive work to-date on an issue that has deeply divided our culture. I also appreciate the fact that we have profoundly different approaches to and perspectives on this work—both of which I believe are necessary to achieve the goal of full trans inclusion in sport and trans liberation more broadly.

One of the things I’m most excited to discuss with Katie is the ways in which our work diverges because I think some of the most interesting discussion and deep opportunities for learning can happen from those tension points. I’m looking forward to continuing to learn from Katie through an exploration of ‘FAIR PLAY’ and their continued work at ESPN.

I’m also honored to be able to invite OOYL readers into that conversation with us and I really hope you’ll join us for the discussion because I know it’s going to be a great one.

Our Zoom event will be on Sunday, April 27th at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT. Katie will be joining us for that conversation, which is only open to paid subscribers. The conversation will be recorded and sent out to everyone who registered for the event, so you can watch it even if you can’t join us live.

A few days before our Zoom meeting, I’ll send out another email with the link to the event, along with a companion syllabus of additional reading for folks who are interested and want to continue exploring topics covered by our book selections.

We did a more casual Zoom setup for both RINGMASTER and HURTS SO GOOD, using a traditional Zoom room instead of a panel event, and I think that worked better for folks. Thanks for helping me figure out the best way to organize these events and community spaces.

Access to the Zoom event requires registration. You can register for our ‘FAIR PLAY’ BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION at the link below: