Denver City Council sides with queer swimmers in parks division pool controversy

For months, LGBTQ swimmers with Denver Squid have been asking to be let again into Denver’s public swimming pools. 

The metropolis had determined in December to kick all the town’s personal swim groups out of its public swimming pools — together with Squid, also called Swimming Queers United in Denver.

Now, Denver City Council is urgent the parks division to reopen its swimming lanes to Squid and different teams.

“The Denver Squid offer a welcoming environment, especially for the transgender community for whom swimming and locker rooms can be a source of stress,” a bunch of 11 council members wrote Clark. 

The parks division’s resolution successfully ended a three-decade relationship between a queer group establishment and the town, forcing the swimmers to chop practices — or apply within the suburbs — forward of this summer season’s Gay Games. The resolution additionally affected personal groups serving different communities.

Previously, Deputy Executive Director John Martinez mentioned the choice was made so the rec facilities might deal with public reasonably than personal makes use of and to make sure fairness — a declare that left some queer swimmers scratching their swim caps.

“While this change in policy may have been made with good intentions to align with the department’s equity vision, the real impact of this decision is now being felt in our community,” the council members wrote. “We would be remiss to ignore the concerns raised by the swim and the LGBTQ+ community in Denver.” 

The transfer got here because the federal authorities has waged an assault on transgender athletes – a group Squid serves. And Squid members felt particularly chafed as a result of that they had not too long ago helped with the town’s unsuccessful bid to host the Gay Games.

Denver Parks and Recreation didn’t present remark earlier than publication.

Squid shouldn’t be alone.

The Denver Tritons Swim Team, a longstanding aggressive youth crew, has additionally misplaced its entry to the swimming pools. The crew serves greater than 100 elementary and center college children. Since shedding entry to Denver’s swimming pools, they’ve been practising at random amenities in off-hours with an unpredictable schedule.

“Since the abrupt termination of pool access in late December, families have been displaced to later, less predictable practice times at other facilities,” wrote Triton dad or mum Gary Montague in a letter to Denverite. “For younger swimmers, this has meant practices ending much later in the evening, disrupted sleep, school issues, and families scrambling to rework routines mid-season.”

The crew, council members argued of their letter, has been a coaching floor for aggressive swimmers in Denver Public Schools. 

The council members argued personal swim groups fill a niche in Parks and Rec choices, for the reason that division doesn’t supply swim groups of its personal.