Education
McGill University; University of Alberta.
McGill University; University of Alberta.
After competing at the Olympics, she lobbied for a number of years to have the International Olympic Committee drop its requirement that all female athletes automatically had to undergo chromosomal testing to ensure that they were actually female, a rule which was not dropped until the 2000 Summer Olympics. Kirby completed a bachelor"s degree in physical education at the University of British Columbia in 1971 and Bachelor of Education degree at the same institution in 1972. She later obtained a master"s degree at McGill University in 1980, and a doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1986.
She is a professor Emerita of sociology at the University of Winnipeg, specializing in study of women in sports.
She came out as lesbian after joining the university.
A member of the Canadian women"s rowing team at the 1976 Summer Olympics, she competed in the women"s quad sculls, with her team finishing ninth.