Students at Harvard University have developed a support group on campus specifically for those who are both athletes and belong to the BGLTQ demographic on campus – known as the Queer Undergraduate Athletes That Do Sports, or QUADS, for short.
The founders of this new group are members of the Harvard men’s swimming and diving team, as well as members of the BGLTQ community themselves, Schuyler M. Bailer ‘19 and David J. Pfeifer ‘18. Bailar, a transgender man, is the first NCAA Division 1 athlete competing at a men’s sport to openly identify as transgender.
“There’s a lot of groups for queer people, but a lot of them, I think, focus on queer student life,” Bailar told the Harvard Crimson student newspaper. “Being an athlete is a totally different space, especially for queer people, because there’s a lot more of gender performed through sport that can be violated to some degree.”
According to the group’s description at the Harvard College’s Office of BGLTQ student life website, the paramount objective of QUADS is constructing a free and welcoming environment for BGLTQ-identifying student athletes “in order to facilitate and strengthen the community of queer athletes.” One of the goals the group mentions in their description is providing guidance to QUADS members while facing the impediments of a “cisheternormative atmosphere” at the university.
“QUADS provides an environment for BGLTQ athletes to share their experiences and provide support while navigating a cisheteronormative atmosphere at Harvard,” the group states.
Prior to obtaining membership into QUADS, student-athletes must first sign a non-disclosure agreement assuring anonymity of group members. According to Bailer, this is especially helpful for student-athletes who are in the closet.
QUADS held its first official group meeting in February, and plans to hold its next one on April 8.
Harvard College Office of BGLTQ student life did not respond to Red Alert Politics’ request for comment.
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