All young people should feel safe and protected at school -- whether that be in the classroom or on the field. But far too often, LGBTQ students face barriers to achieving success and full inclusion at school.

Federation member OutFront Minnesota has made working to create safe schools for LGBTQ youth a top priority. Earlier this year, they were a part of a coalition that helped pass one of the country’s strongest LGBT-inclusive bullying prevention laws. And just this month, they reached the end of another long battle to achieve fairness for LGBT students, this time for transgender student athletes.

On December 4th, the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) voted 18-1, with one abstention, in favor of allowing transgender athletes to play on the sports teams that best matches their gender identity. Transgender students who want to play on the team of their choice will be required to submit statements from parents or a doctor to school officials, but they won't be required to show proof of hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery.

The decision came after about 20 speakers, including transgender and gender nonconforming students, delegates of advocacy groups, and state legislators, addressed the high school league board.

Among the crowd was Federation member OutFront Minnesota, who has been working for months to assure appropriate inclusion of all students, including transgender students, in sports programs.

This win was a culmination of months of hard work. OutFront provided input on the policy and worked to raise awareness and support for it with members of the trans community and allies who support trans justice. Monica Meyer, Executive Director at OutFront, had this to say about the policy:

“All students deserve a safe place to just be who they are. That includes in the classroom, and on the court or field. The Minnesota High School League's policy sends a powerful message to transgender kids: they belong, and they don’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to be included."

Like most victories, this win didn’t come without its challenges. The policy was first considered by the board in July, and then was brought for review in October. After hearing from 40 speakers over the course of two days, attorneys for the MSHSL presented the League's board with a new proposed policy regarding transgender athletes. The board also received more than 10,000 emails from people on both sides of the issue. As a result, the board voted unanimously to table the proposed policy until December to gather input from stakeholders on the new approach.

From October to December 4th when the vote took place, OutFront worked hard to gather support for the policy amid harsh opposition. The organization and it’s partners brought together supporters and transgender students to attend the board meetings, gathered petition signatures in favor of the policy, and Monica and Zeam Porter, a trans* gender queer student, even appeared live on MSNBC to talk about the policy (video below).

During this time, the opposing groups gathered their own supporters and even placed a full-page ad placed in the Star Tribune against the policy.

Despite the harmful and misleading efforts of the opposition, when the vote took place this month, there was no delay. Members discussed it for about 30 minutes before overwhelmingly approving the policy. The policy will take effect in the 2015-16 school year, making Minnesota the 33rd state to adopt a formal policy for transgender high school athletes.

Thank you to the work of OutFront Minnesota and your partners in the state who have been key in supporting these efforts to ensure that all students can participate in sports regardless of their gender identity or expression.