Schuyler Bailar, a trans diver, was safe in the pool. For another, he wants it that way.

The lake, according to Schuyler Bailar, was more than just entertaining. It was a place of safety and convenience. It was where Bailar may become himself.

The issue was not within it.

” I was frequently bullied for not being female- conforming”, Bailar said in an appointment with USA TODAY. ” I woke up in great school determined I was tired of being bullied.”

Bailar would go on to float for Harvard. While he was there, he made use of that famous system to bring attention to the transgender community’s attacks. He’d continue that fight after institution, becoming a charitable and frequent recommend. Trans players are being attacked on a number of different sides, so that battle is necessary.

Schuyler Bailar swam for the Harvard Men's Swimming and Diving team as the first openly transgender NCAA Division I swimmer. Bailar is an advocate for trans athletes.

In fact, more than a hundred transgender women athletes have recently filed legal suits against the National Collegiate Athletic Association because of its transgender participation policy, which they claim violates Title IX, the federal law that forbids discrimination based on intercourse at any organization that receives federal funding.

Like the previous four-part series, Bailar’s story ( his first name is pronounced “SKY-lar” ) is important to tell because we must witness and hear these brave athletes in all of their humanity and, in their own words.

How amazing has Bailar’s quest been? In 2015, while swimming for Harvard, he became the first transgender athlete to compete on an NCAA Division 1 people’s group. Additionally, he has developed into one of the strongest and most outspoken sports fighting for the privileges of the trans community. Bailar’s work became but nationally recognized that in 2016 he was profiled on 60 Minutes.

Since therefore, his efforts to bring attention, and fight bias, have only become more prominent. Bailar’s text, He/She/They: How We Speak About Gender and Why It Matters, was published by Hachette in October of 2023. According to Bailar, the book helps to clarify the transgender community’s continued dialogue.

” Everyone is debating trans right”, Bailar said,” and where transgender people belong, and if we belong, and yet most Americans claim they’ve never met a transgender people. Most the n’t precisely define the term ‘ transgender…'”

Bailar is attempting to alter everything. It’s his vision.