In a remarkable on-the-record interview, the Blue Stars Corps Director revealed how he exercised robust leadership by coordinating with the various arms of his organization in a relentless effort to foster an inclusive, welcoming environment for transgender students.

Dr. Russ Gavin in an undated photo (Image credit: Russell Gavin)

“It was around this time of year — October — and we were heading into camp, and [the FTM transgender student] said ‘Hi, I am a transgender male, and I would love to be part of your organization. I was immediately like ‘alright, we have an opportunity here to be the people who do this the right way.’”

With his uniquely southern accent reminiscent of his Alabama roots — and in a friendly, sociable style resembling that of the famed Charles W. Chuck Bryant — Dr. Gavin recalls the contentious national mood and conversation at the time:

“This was right as ‘the bathroom wars’ began across our country with all the politicizing of [the transgender bathroom rights] issue, so I was like ‘we’re not only going to be on the right side of history, we’re going to teach people how to do this.’”

The first steps of inclusion were conservative, but nonetheless the Blue Stars administration attempted to empower the transgender student at every avenue.

“To walk through it kind of chronologically: at the first camps, […] there are men’s showers, women’s showers, and then several standalone showers. So I asked [the transgender student]: ‘What would you like to do? This is your choice, you are empowered, the ball is in your court.’ And he said ‘I’m just going to use the private one for now, and, you know, we’ll see.’ So that’s what happened through spring training.”

Dr. Gavin talked about how the news spread when a transgender student marcher — the first openly transgender student in the organization’s then-50-year history — revealed to other members that he would perform among them that season:

“[The transgender student] went on to his section’s Facebook page, and he said to his section ‘hello everyone, I have met many of you, [and] it is important to let you know that I am a transgender male. I am post-op, and have had breast removal surgery. Here are the questions I would invite you to ask a transgender person, and here are questions you should not ask a transgender person: ‘Do NOT ask me what my old name was. Do NOT ask me about my genitalia.’ Those were the two really big ones. ‘DO ask me what it is like to be me. DO talk to me about what I like and don’t like. DO treat me like I’m a regular person.’ It was so cool, because in that moment there was no whispering, there was no wondering. “Hey, head’s up, and we have a member here. This is their biography, everybody’s got their own too.’”

As the Blue Stars tour commenced, the experience became more of a natural routine that most performers in the DCI activity are readily familiar with:

“Once we got to tour, [where the law permitted, the FTM transgender student] was using the male shower with a bathing suit on. And then he kinda got tired of that, and was just using the male shower [without a bathing suit]. And again, the whole season, there was just a dude […] taking a shower, and we had to go to a show, so could we please get our hair washed and get our uniforms on?”

The legal uncertainty amongst the various housing sites was of a slight, but manageable, concern. As Dr. Gavin explains:

“In some ways, we had to […] realize that we were in a period of fluctuating legislation nationally on this conversation, and know that when we hit certain states, in a way we might risk violating laws that hadn’t been written yet, in most cases. At that time, a lot of these things had not even been passed, and we were like “ok, this is going to be interesting, but we need to do the right thing here.”

Dr. Gavin describes the generally positive reception of the Blue Stars’ members, alumni, and parents by saying:

“I’m sure within our membership there were members who these things challenged their view of the world, […] but never to the point that it was brought up in any way to anyone. And I would hope that the people that [felt] forced into those positions who thought their views of things was challenged, realized ‘oh wait a minute, it’s just a dude playing a horn.’ It was a very easy experience in that way — way easier than all of my pragmatic friends thought. And honestly, I thought at some point I would have to tend to the [decision] more than I ended up having to, but I didn’t. It just took care of itself, as a drum corps… and nothing we do [in the drum corps activity] is logical.”

Of course, the Blue Stars had planned to address a whole host of “what if” situations, including the (ultimately nonexistent) resistance from other students or their parents to the idea of transgender student inclusion:

“What if our students are uncomfortable about this, and we get a call from a parent. And my answer to that was ‘if a parent does not want their child to march in our drum corps because we have a transgender member, then they should not march in our drum corps.’”

The Blue Stars Drum & Bugle Corps has since acted as a comprehensive resource for other DCI organizations seeking information and assistance in working through the legal and cultural issues surrounding transgender students, and Dr. Gavin named to me four separate drum corps with which he has recently shared his treasure trove of experience.

Dr. Gavin reiterated to me more than once in our interview that he hopes the Madison Scouts is the next group that gives him a call for advice:

“Brad Furlano, who is the [Executive Director of the Blue Stars], puts it out there — hey, we have done this, call Russ if you need to talk about it. We want to be that resource, we want to be that leader.”

After learning that the Madison Scouts had recently turned away an FTM transgender student, Dr. Gavin choked up for a moment in a sense of shock and bewilderment as he struggled to find words to describe his noticeable feelings of confusion and sadness.

But after a brief pause to collect his thoughts, Dr. Gavin nonetheless affirmed the right of the Madison Scouts — and inherently his own drum corps — to choose an appropriate admissions policy for the organization:

“If the Scouts are going to be all male, and they make the choice to label the transgender male as not fitting into that, I guess that is their right… but I would — in an organization that has been such a friend to the LGBT community historically — I would say you are at risk of being on the wrong side of history.”

When asked what he would recommend the Madison Scouts organization do if the corps were to maintain a strictly all-male admissions policy and turn away another FTM transgender student, Dr. Gavin swiftly replied: