Boy gymnast wants
to be on girls' team

A Wisconsin boy looking to compete on his school's girls' gymnastic team is now taking legal action to gain access.

Keith Michael Bukowski, a junior at Stevens Point Area Senior High, and his mother, Janine Olszewski, filed a summons and complaint against the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association for rejecting his membership on the team.

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The teen's school does not have a boys' gymnastic team, and he feels officials have no right to exclude him from the girls' team – especially since girls, he says, have been allowed to compete on male teams, like football and wrestling in recent years.

According to the complaint, reported in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, the alleged discrimination based on Bukowski's sex violates education amendments which prohibit "discrimination based upon sex in extracurricular activities at public schools."

The complaint said Bukowski's "goals included gymnastics competition at the collegiate level. ... His ability to obtain a scholarship in the future is compromised by his nonparticipation in gymnastics at SPASH."

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In 1972, Congress signed Title IX into law, prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs or activities receiving federal aid, but that has mainly benefited women seeking to participate in sports where programs did not previously exist.

Doug Chickering, executive director of the WIAA, has been standing firm in keeping Bukowski off the team, even though the girls' coach had no problem with the boy's participation.

He recently explained to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the reasons given by the WIAA for its ban – and why girls are granted exceptions.

"One, girls continue to be the underrepresented gender as far as having interscholastic athletic opportunities," Chickering said. "We feel that to replace even one girl with a boy would be a backward step and not moving toward a complete equality, which we'd all like to have.

"Our investigation of court cases indicates that there are physiological differences between boys and girls. These differences would strongly indicate that physical advantages would have to be given to the boys."

Meanwhile, the court of public opinion seems to be tilting in favor of Bukowski, as over 300 classmates have signed a petition supporting the boy's right to compete with the girls.

"We'll take support wherever we can get it," his mother told the Tribune. "Anyone I talk to asks, if there is anything they can do, to just let them know. I even had a gymnastics coach from Sheboygan tell me he supported what we were doing. A lot of people are looking at this and using this to get boys gymnastics going again at their high school."

"I had no idea it would turn into this," she added. "We're not just doing this to cause trouble. He has talent and we want him to have a chance to show people."