About The Hoop Shoot Contest

In Beacon and in other communities where there is an Elks Club Lodge membership hosting the contest, parents receive a simple flyer with the date and location of the tryout: a Friday evening at Rombout Middle School. Participating kids must bring their birth certificates in order to prove their age. Being that the kids are receiving these flyers in school the need for proof of age seems redundant, and overly cautious.

The Restrictive Problem With The Birth Certificate Requirement

This seemingly simple requirement is a barrier to several different types of children, including those who are:

Unable to locate their birth certificate. Sometimes they get lost.

Living with a parent or caregiver in more than one household where communication between parents is strained, and only one parent has the original birth certificate to make the copy. Getting a document like this for an activity that both parents agree on can become a problem.

Difficult for those with different immigration statuses who may not have a birth certificate.

Limiting for those in foster care who also may not have easy access to a birth certificate.

Uncomfortable for kids recognizing gender identification, and are going through Beacon schools with a different gender and name than what they were identified with at birth. Revealing a birth certificate may “out” them in a way they don’t intend.

When asked why the birth certificate was needed if the kids are being recruited from Rombout Middle School, Principal Brian Soltish referred questions to Carl Oken, an organizer with the Elks Club. Carl explained that the birth certificate was needed for proof of age should the child advance to next rounds, as the school does not share records with the club. Carl stated that “birth certificates can have all data redacted other than name, birth date and sex.”

When questioning of the practice persisted, Carl referred the questions onto the contest director, Nicole Moreno. While at first she was comfortable with the practice, she gave it a think over a weekend, and changed her mind: “Our conversations had my wheels turning. I have addressed this issue with both the State and National Directors and effective immediately, birth certificates are no longer a requirement.”

A Beaconite who is a parent in the district and is a bilingual lead advocate for domestic violence victims, Ella Mar, was supportive of the decision. “That type of requirement excludes undocumented students, and potentially exposes their undocumented status. It also excludes queer children and teenagers who have been kicked out of their home and doesn't have access to their birth certificate,” they reflected.

“A proof of birth certificate requirement especially targets trans kids, who would have to expose their dead name and assigned gender at birth, which could potentially out any child whose current sex, gender or name isn't reflected on their birth record. This type of requirement could also exclude children in the foster care system, or any youth where it is not safe for them to produce their birth record. Or they just don't have it."

Months after the decision was made, Nicole remains supportive of the decision to make community-based events produced by the Elks more inclusive, stating: “For a long time, the Elks Club was not so inclusive. You had to be a white Christian male to be a member. There are still Lodges to this day that are still segregated by sex and color. Even a neighboring community still doesn't allow female members. Beacon, however, was one of the first to allow female members, and the first to elect a Woman Exalted Ruler. We just elected the 3rd this year 2022. We love our vets. We love our kids and we love our community.”

This month finishes Nicole’s four years as chair of the Hoop Shoot committee, to be followed by Joe Green. Barbra Farber was Exalted Ruler twice, and Jennifer Velez is the newly elected Exalted Ruler, to begin serving the term in April 2022.

The Beacon Elks Lodge is located at 900 Wolcott Avenue. Keep up the the many events and opportunities they offer, including rental of their space.

During Monday night’s City Council Meeting, which was a combo Workshop/Regular Meeting, a person called in during the Public Comment session to speak his mind about how the City of Beacon should handle kids in school with progressing transgender acceptance in bathrooms and school sports. The caller, Stosh Yankowski, wanted the City of Beacon to be a Sanctuary City for females, thereby making transgender people invisible. Stosh stated: “I have nothing against transgender people. I don't think it's fair for a biological male to compete. I don't know if Beacon can make a Sancutary City for females. If it can be done or not, I wanted to propose that.” In 2017, Beacon became a “Welcoming City” for people moving here from other countries. The City was seeking to become a Sanctuary City for but wanted to avoid financial threats from the federal level during the 45th administration.

Normally during this period, the public can speak for up to 3 minutes each, and the Councilmembers don’t respond, they just listen. However, Stosh’s comments were so harmful, hateful and rude, they won’t be repeated in this article. Councilmember Amber Grant stepped out of the silence to interrupt Stosh and stop him from causing further verbal harm. “Where is the boundary on this?…This is wildly innapropriate.” Unlike during a Zoom call, when text appears on the screen that is a racial insult or harmful, moderators shut the intruder down. This is commonly referred to as “Zoom Bombing.” In terms of free speech, it is the equivelent to fake-calling “Fire!” in a crowd. There has not been a precedent set yet for live City Council calls.

During Councilperson Grant’s verbal objection, Mayor Kayriacou interrupted Councilmember Grant in favor of allowing Stosh to continue, which Stosh did, and addressed Councilmember Grant to encourage her to continue debating him. Normally, the procedure during a meeting like this is that the public can speak on anything they want, and the Councilmembers sit silent. Later in the meeting, the Councilmembers have a designated time called “Reports” where they can speak on anything they want. Usually this time is used to report on issues from their Wards (aka areas of the city they represent) or to give a PSA, and they usually do not respond to callers. This year, however, they have started to.

At the beginning of the Reports section, Mayor Kyriacou apologized for “cutting off any members,” stating the situation was “difficult.” He then decided which order of Councilmembers to start with to give their Reports (he often plays alphabet games to decide which order to go in). He selected Councilperson Terry Nelson to go first, who responded: “I would like to defer my time to Amber Grant.” To which Mayor Kyriacou responded: “I should have started at the other end.”

Air Nonken Rhodes was next, who passed on their time, stating: “I am going to pass this call. I have too much to say. Thanks.” The rest of the Councilmembers reported on previously planned items, such as a business update from Councilperson George Mansfield to encourage businesses on Main Street to apply for (free) parklets, and Dan Amar-Blair who alluded to wanting more discussion on Order 203 (the Police Reform order for municipalities) as well as voicing his support for fellow Councilmember Nelson’s call for opting into the Emergency Tenants Protection Act (ETPA), a form of rent regulation available in New York State.

The caller, Stosh Yankowski, is a regular Public Commenter, calling in almost every every other week during the Public Comment portion of the meeting, usually to protest and educate about 5G technology. He delights in delivering comical, sarcastic speeches. At times, he calls to apologize for previous statements he has made. It is unknown on if he has been reprimanded by the City for previous offensive remarks.

When Councilperson Grant responded during her Report, she stressed the danger in rhetoric like that being heard. She stated: “Obviously I reacted very strongly to that public comment. I think it's important that poeple take the time to understand situations, and the speaker doesn't undersrand that gender is a social construct…I don't need to be protected in a sports arena. Trans people are simply poeple just like the rest of us. If there is something you find scary, then you should look at resources... I think that comments like that are very dangerous, where we are seeing people being violently attacked and hurt, and I don't want to see that.”

Mayor Kyriacou made note to comment that this issue resides with the Beacon City School District, stating: “I have a lot of faith in our school districts. It's not a City issue, and I have faith in our school district.” Last June, during Pride Month, the Mayor designated June to be Pride Month, alongside the national designation, and personally bought a pride flag and had it fly from City Hall’s flag pole during the month.

As a female writer, bathroom user, and former basketball player, I will agree with Councilperson Grant, about not needing protection in sports or in bathrooms. I welcome playing with any person on the court, even in a scholastic competition. The best game is when you play with people who are really into it, and make you shine. My best year of high school basketball was when I spent the summer playing in camp with all boys. Inhibition was lost, and the aggression was fabulous. I won Best Defense that year.

People looking to think about men and women, or males and females, or all people playing sports together, could consider two things in their explorations:

Lusia Harris, the first female drafted by the NBA in 1977. My 9-year old son found this for me as we started discussing it weeks ago, to see how he felt about it.
That bodies are made differently. If you were born with brothers, and you watch those brothers grow up - one brother may be built very differently than the other. One might be a Hulk, and one might be a Spiderman. Has nothing to do with gender or body parts. I have just described my two sons. Girls I played sports with were all designed differently than me. Some with naturally stronger muscles than mine. We all had spirit, and drive, and smarts, and a love for the game and the team.