sports // 20

 

  

Transecting

» Trans* athletes in competition

Natalie Serafini
m, Editor-in-Chief
Ey! Meditor

fF @theotherpress.ca

  

he acceptance of trans*

athletes in sports has long
been contentious, and a recent
race brought this debate back
to the forefront in Canada: a
pair of transgender athletes,
Enza Anderson and Savannah
Burton, took part in a rowing
competition on the Ottawa
River, and organizers of the
race have noted that the two are
the first openly trans* athletes
to row ina Canadian competi-
tion. With this step forward for
Canadian trans* athletes, and
the ensuing discussions that

have arisen, it begs the question :
: their cis-gender opponents.

why some continue to resist the
inclusion of trans* athletes.
Assertions of an “unfair
advantage” generally centre
around the supposedly ines-
capable differences between,
as is most commonly argued,
trans* women and biological
women. In Salon.com, Heather
Hargreaves details how trans*
athlete Fallon Fox’s career has

    

: been peppered with accusa-

: tions of physical inequality,

: and statements that she “isa

: man beating up other females”
: in mixed martial arts.

Not only are these accu-

sations insulting to athletes,

: Hargreaves also discusses how
: they’re factually inaccurate.

: Many who argue against

: acceptance of trans* athletes

: assert that male-to-female

: (MTF) trans* athletes have

: more testosterone than bio-

: logical women do, and this

: increases their muscle mass; in
: fact, studies have shown that

: cis-female athletes have higher
: testosterone levels than trans*

: female athletes. Consequently,

: trans* female athletes actually

: face more difficulty in reach-

ing the same muscle mass as

Bone density is another

: go-to argument, but bone den-
: sity varies a great deal based

: on different factors, including

: nutrition, sex, age, race, and

: genetics. As Hargreaves states,

: “there is simply too much

: variation to exclude someone

: solely on the basis of that

: measurement. Not only is there

differences

: an extreme amount of variation
: that overlaps between sexes,

: but bone density and bone

: structure is irrelevant to deter-
: mining athletic performance.”

These arguments against

trans* athletes also disregard

: the physical variation amongst
: cis-athletes. There will always
: be some people who naturally

: havea physical advantage

: over their opponents; yet I’ve

: never heard of a basketball

: player being kept from playing
: because they’re “too tall,” or

: Michael Phelps being told he

: couldn’t compete because his

: long arms gave him an unfair

: advantage in swimming. On

: top of which, clearly the argu-

: ments against trans* athletes

: aren't entirely based in science.

Your body changes a great

: deal when you transition and

: go through hormone therapy.

: Nong Thoom—the famous

: trans* woman who began her

: muay thai boxing career asa

: male fighter and transitioned

: under intense public scrutiny—
: had to deal with the physical

: changes as she took hormone

: therapies and continued to

: fight cis-male muay thai boxers.

theotherpress.ca

 

: Granted, Thoom was and is an
: incredible muay thai boxer, so
: she can hold her own against

: any opponent; nonetheless,

: it’s ludicrous to pit a trans*

: female undergoing hormone

: therapies against a cis-male

: opponent, in every fight,

: simply because ofa stubborn

: unwillingness to acknowledge
: atrans* woman as a woman.

Some have proposed

: reserving leagues for trans*-

: only athletes, but this is poten-
: tially problematic—although

: Idosee the value in fostering a
: place and community for trans* :
: athletes. First ofall, I worry that :
: having separate, segregated

: leagues for men, women, and

: trans* athletes sets trans*

: athletes apart as “other” to the
: supposedly regular leagues.

: Additionally, there’s already a
: great deal ofinattention paid to :
: women’s leagues and competi-
: tions; would a league for trans*
: athletes keep those athletes

: on the fringe of competitions,

: and prevent them from being

: recognized as elite athletes?

The Olympics represent a

: perfect example: few will deny
: that they mark the pinnacle

 

: of competition in athletics.

: What happens when youre

: anathlete who isn’t allowed

: to compete with the world’s

: cis-gender elite, or are givena

: consolation prize of “separate

: but equal” competitions? While
: the International Olympic

: Committee (IOC) was the

: first to adopt more inclusive

: policies, the Huffington Post

: reported in February that no

: openly transgender athletes

: have competed in the Olympics;
: additionally, the IOC’s policies

: require that competitors have

expensive sex-reassignment
surgeries, take hormone

: therapies for at least two years,
: and receive legal recognition

: oftheir transition. These

: policies, while more inclusive

: than what has previously been
: the case, haven’t been updated

since they were enacted over

: 10 years ago, and they prevent

: countless athletes who can't

: afford the stipulations from

: competing. As angry asthe

: global community was over the
: Winter Olympics being held in
: homophobic Russia, there was

: another group that has been

: and continues to be excluded.