Canadian
Cycling Association Discriminates Against
Elite Athlete Kristen Worley
It has come to our attention at Gendercare, Inc. that although "on
paper" the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has claimed that
transitioned athletes may compete in the Olympic Games, that the Canadian Cycling
Association has engaged in blatant discrimination against one of Canada's best
athletes ever, cyclist Kristen Worley, due to her status as a transitioned
woman. Read an open letter by Kristen Worley to the director of sport in
Canada, Mr. Gilles Dery, to see how he is perpetuating the discrimination against
Kristen Worley, and how the Canadian Cycling Association has violated her human
rights and set back human rights.
http://www.intersexualite.org/Dery.html
We suggest all readers to write to Mr. Dery at the following address demanding
his OPEN RESPOSE to Kristen's letter.
gilles.dery@pch.gc.ca
We suggest that all readers sign this petition supporting the re-consideration
by the Canadian Cycling Association to STOP their discriminatory actions against Kristen Worley and any
collusion which may be occuring with the IOC in this matter. We insist that the
Canadian Cycling Association and the IOC to rightfully instate Kristen Worley
and permit her to compete in Beijing in the Olympic Games.
Open Letter to Mr.
Gilles Déry from Kristen Worley
Mr.
Gilles Déry
Director General of Sport Canada
Sport Canada/Canadian Heritage
15 Eddy Street, 16th Floor, Room 116
Gatineau, Quebec
Canada
K1A 0M5
August 4th, 2008
Re: Response letter to Gilles Déry Director General Sport Canada
Dear Gilles Déry,
I am writing to you Monday, August the 4th 2008. After receiving your
email yesterday, I wanted to ensure that there were no
misunderstandings about what has happened in the last few weeks
concerning the issues you responded to in that e-mail.
Not only I, but other colleagues in sport as well, were very
disappointed with your scripted letter, which came as a shock to many
of us. There seems to be a serious disconnect between all our
previous conversations and emails and this response and it could have
a serious impact on the system and put other Canadian athletes at
risk, since the underlying issue is really about diversity in sport.
Therefore, I need to reiterate why I was depending on you to sort this
out and I had been given the impression that you were in fact going to
do just that – make sure that the history of discrimination against
gender variant athletes that has plagued the CCA come to an end.
It is important that other members of Canadian sport be aware of what
you and I discussed on the phone because the conversations that we had
are not consistent with what you have written to me in this scripted
letter. You were already aware that I had already exhausted all
possibilities of sorting this out with the CCA because three previous
letters that I had sent to the CCA still remain unanswered. You were
also aware that the director of the CCA, Ms. Lafreniere, had made very
offensive statements at Nationals last September to me, such as "Why
couldn't you just stick with your water skiing?" I had reported to you
that Ms. Lafreniere had created such a hostile environment by
alienating me, which affects all aspects of my professional life and I
also reported that she had refused to ever respond to any of my
requests concerning the issue of qualifying events. Therefore, it is
quite disturbing that I am now being told at such a late date, right
before Canadian athletes are leaving for Beijing, that I am to start
this whole process all over and with the very person that has created
the problem by never responding to any of my previous requests and by
having created such a hostile environment within Canadian cycling.
Also, many leaders in Canadian sport, as well as Hon. Helena Guergis,
Minister of International Affairs and Sport, are aware that we had
this same problem several weeks ago with Idee Inyangudor, senior
advisor to Ms. Guergis. The real issue was sexism in sports and that
was what should have been dealt with when Jacques Rogge came to
Canada. Instead of dealing with the issues that women athletes had,
Helena Guergis only spoke about women's ski jumping in general. After
many people complained, we were told that this would be dealt with in
Lausanne in June 2008 with the IOC executives. Now they are denying
that the conversation ever took place. However, many women sports
leaders knew this conversation has occurred. It appears that sexism
has once again been swept under the carpet. Why is there no
willingness to deal with this openly, knowing that we have an official
project here in Canada to deal with this very issue?
When government officials say one thing on the phone and another
publicly, this has serious consequences on those that are supposed to
be protected by government officials from discrimination, sexism and
hostile environments within Canadian sport. When Canadian law and
human rights are being violated in such an egregious manner, it is
crucial that the truth be exposed and that is why past Director
General Tom Scrimger stepped in to intervene on behalf of those
athletes whose safety and human rights were in jeopardy. Tom Scrimger
would never send out such a scripted email which makes it appear that
we had never had any previous conversation about all the history with
CCA and my repeated attempts to sort this out with the CCA nor your
assurance that I did not have to worry about this. I was told that I
would have all the time I needed to qualify and I was told to take
care of burying my father.
In closing, l would like to reiterate the facts, many of which have
been suppressed from public scrutiny. It is important that I not be
misrepresented as someone wanting special treatment. That is not true
and I refuse to be misrepresented in this offensive manner.
1) Everyone knew that I was performing well beyond the qualifying
times required to go to Beijing.
2) I repeatedly corresponded with Ms. Lafreniere about extenuating
circumstances, which might prevent me from attending certain
qualifying events. Not once did I ever receive a response. Not only
that, I was subjected to harassing treatment and hostile comments from
Ms. Lafreniere which alienated me from other athletes and had an
affect on my professional life as well.
3) Since Ms. Lafreniere and the CCA already have a history of
discrimination against gender variant athletes and lesbians (one of
the motivations behind the diversity project in Canadian sport), I
felt I had no choice but to explain this situation with you, Gilles
Déry, who is the Director of Sport Canada.
4) The death of one's father is an extenuating circumstance, which was
the issue that I discussed with your office and they informed me that
I need not worry about these qualifying events at this specific time
and assured me that I would have time to do that as there were (3)
months till Beijing. I was told to focus on my father and my training
at this time. I was concerned enough to contact Sport Canada, knowing
the failing of my father's health, and I could not leave him to go to
my qualifications at that time, though my training was going so well
and knew I was on target. There have been other athletes who have
been given exemptions because of extenuating circumstances. This
agreement that your office made with me seemed reasonable and
compassionate and I took your office at its word.
5) Now, at the last minute, I receive a form letter that says to start
back at point zero with the organization, the CCA, which is
responsible for the current situation in the first place.
I have trusted you and I am devastated by this response.
I hope that you will do what you said and sort this out. It is your
responsibility. I have done everything I could do and I trusted you.
This is a violation of my trust and my human rights because I am not
being treated like any other athlete who had been in a similar
circumstance and you understood quite well that I was not asking for
special treatment and that is why you agreed that I should just focus
on my father's funeral and my training. I have done what you said.
Now, I expect you to do the same.
With professional regards,
/Kristen Worley
P.S. At no time did I ask for any special treatment. My father died
on June 6th 2008. That left me 7 weeks before Beijing and I never
once received any confirmation from your office about any UCI
sanctioned events that I wanted to compete in either in Canada or the
United States and I wanted to demonstrate my qualifications and
abilities to represent my country in Beijing. However, your office
never followed up on my desire to qualify in any of these sanctioned
events. Therefore, I feel that it is you and your office who have not
treated me as you would any other athlete. I am once again asking why
I have not been treated as any other athlete would be in Canada. I
trusted you and your office and I feel you have betrayed my trust at a
time when I was in mourning and still willing to attend UCI sanctioned
events to meet qualification guidelines.
Available on OII's website at:
http://www.intersexualite.org/Dery.html