The documentary "In The Turn" will be shown this Thursday at the Athena and follows the life of Crystal, a 10-year-old transgender girl as she joins a roller derby group.
Despite the lack of representation for people who identify as LGBT in popular sports, roller derby is paving the way for inclusivity.
The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., will be screening the documentary, In the Turn, on Thursday, followed by a Q&A with the director of the documentary, Erica Tremblay.
There also will be a brown bag lunch discussion with Tremblay and members of the Athens Roller Derby Association earlier that day in the Women’s Center.
According to Sarah Jenkins, the program coordinator for the Women’s Center, the 2014 film In the Turn documents the life of a 10-year-old transgender girl and highlights her experiences in joining the Vagine Regime, a roller derby group known for its inclusivity.
Loran Marsan, a visiting assistant professor in women’s, gender and sexuality studies, encouraged the screening of the film on campus, as she felt the film “seemed relevant to so many different avenues … in terms of sports, the LGBT community, the school of journalism and documentary making.”
“Historically, (roller derby) groups have always been all about anti-discrimination, anti-hate crimes (and) anti-bullying,” Marsan said. “(The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) has always had the most progressive (and) inclusive policies … particularly in terms of gender and sexuality.”
Despite the lack of representation, people in the LGBT community do participate in sports, delfin bautista, director of the LGBT Center, said.
“Not all sports are homophobic, biphobic or transphobic,” bautsita, who uses they/them pronouns and the lowercase spelling of their name, said.
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Roller derby is not only queer inclusive, but also body affirming of people, as “there are places and uses for all body types” in the sport, Marsan said. Not only “bigger women but also small petite women” who have been told “they’re too big or too small” will find that their size will be advantageous in the sport.
“It’s like, oh you weigh 180 pounds? You have a big butt and you can knock people down and that is awesome,” she said. “In what world does that ever happen for women?”
While there are no official guidelines by the NCAA regarding transgender student athletes, there are suggestions regarding specific sports that colleges can follow and install on their campuses, bautista said.
“For a long time, the stereotype was that the athletic world was the enemy and … we’re starting to recognize that’s not necessarily true,” bautista said. “There are sports that are inclusive and there are sports that are pioneering inclusivity in really funky ways.”
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