# Schuyler Bailar Born January 26, 1996 in Fairfax County, Virginia. Korean-American athlete who in 2015 became the **first openly transgender athlete to compete on any NCAA Division I men's team** when he joined the Harvard University men's swimming team. He has since become one of the most prominent public-facing American trans-rights advocates, with a particular focus on the intersection of trans rights and athletic policy. ## The Harvard Decision Bailar was recruited to Harvard's women's swimming team in 2014 after a successful high-school swimming career — set to be a likely top-conference swimmer and possible NCAA championship contender. Between his recruitment and matriculation, he came out as transgender. Bailar and Harvard coaches negotiated an unprecedented arrangement: he would compete on the men's team, even though it meant losing his anticipated national-championship-level position and competing in a much more crowded talent pool. The decision was covered by national sports and news media as the first instance of an openly trans NCAA Division I athlete deliberately competing in alignment with his gender identity rather than his assigned-at-birth category. Bailar swam four full seasons (2015-2019) for Harvard's men's team. ## Post-Collegiate Advocacy Since graduating from Harvard in 2019, Bailar has become a continuous public voice on transgender rights, with particular focus on: - **The trans-athlete legislative wave** — beginning in 2020, dozens of U.S. states have passed laws prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in alignment with their gender identity, particularly affecting trans girls and women in K-12 and college sports - **Anti-trans medical legislation** — including state-level bans on gender-affirming care for minors - **Anti-bullying and educational advocacy** — through school visits, college campus appearances, and his social-media presence - **His 2024 book** *He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters* ## Place in the Vault Bailar occupies a distinctive niche in the contemporary American trans-rights ecosystem: the **athlete-advocate** front, which is particularly central given that trans-athlete policy has been one of the right wing's primary anti-trans political wedge issues since 2020. His public role is largely educational and persuasion-oriented rather than litigation-or-electoral, but his cultural visibility — particularly to young people, families, and athletic communities — has made him one of the most-recognized public American trans figures of his generation. --- ## See Also - [[Queer Liberation Ecosystem]] - [[Queer Liberation Timeline]]