Tessa Torgovitsky

November 2018

POL 214

Research Paper

The Rights of Transgender Athletes in Competitive Sport

The participation of transgender individuals in competitive sports is considered a

controversial issue in the United States. Those opposed to their participation generally focus on

hormonal factors, the socialisation of people when they are young children, and physiological

factors such as height and weight as reasons to keep transgender individuals out of single-gender

areas of competition. Insisting trans athletes compete against athletes of the same biological sex,

sex verification testing, and general access regulations have been used with the aim of ensuring

fair competition; however, excluding transgender athletes from competition or forcing them to

compete in a single-gender sport league that does not align with their identity is unfair as well.

The determination to make sports more fair by banning trans people from competing in

single-gender sports by the gender with which they identify is by definition unjust. These

restrictions aid cisgender athletes, often at the detriment of transgender individuals. That is not

impartial treatment without favoritism or discrimination. Impartial treatment should not seek to

punish people for their hormone levels, gender, or success by pulling those talents out of

competition entirely. All over the United States, conversations about how to move forward fairly

for all are taking place. Arguments to include transgender individuals in competitive sport are
happening at every level - from high school teams to the Olympics. In order to craft a truly fair

and just policy one needs to use an intersectional lens that incorporates the needs of transgender

athletes, rather than catering to the methods of the past or the opinions of the cisgender majority

only. Looking at the evolution of sport to this point helps placate current changes to the culture

and the rapidly updating policies.

Historically, sport was considered to be a place of extreme masculinity. It was a true

boy’s club: girls and women keep out. This perception of sport began to shift with the rise of

women's sports, and is currently being further challenged with the gradual acceptance of gay

cisgender men in competitive sport. Now, a new departure from this traditionally masculine view

came from bringing trans athletes into the fold. Those who did not fit into the culturally accepted

binary gender definition of male and female have been excluded from competition in order to

keep sports competition “fair” but now advocates and activists are arguing that the act of

exclusion is the true unfair act here. Some organizations did make moves in a forward direction

to promote inclusion: for example, in August of 2011, the National Collegiate Athletic

Association released a handbook to educate teams about inclusion of transgender athletes. Policy

changes are also taking place at arguably the highest level of competition: the Olympics. ​The

International Olympic Committee held a forum meeting to come to a consensus on on, “sex

reassignment and hyperandrogenism” in November of 2015. The guidelines that came out of

both of these organizations have pros and cons, as they do make strides towards inclusion but

were created to “protect” cisgender competitors from an “unfair competition” using invasive and

damaging techniques of selection that isolate transgender individuals. Both are important to

provide background on to understand where we currently are and where we can go from here.
 As briefly stated in the previous paragraph, the National Collegiate Athletic Association

released what is sometimes referred to as the “Transgender Handbook” in August of 2011. The

purpose was not to create new policies but to, “provide guidance to NCAA athletic programs

about how to ensure transgender student athletes [received] fair, respectful, and legal access to

collegiate sports teams based on current medical and legal knowledge,” (National Collegiate

Athletic Association). Ultimately, the guidebook highlights that insuring transgender student

athletes be given both the opportunity to play and the opportunity to play comfortably should be

a top priority for coaches and school sports administration. They then spend time going over the

policies they have in place, which begin as such:

1. A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for

treatment with testosterone for diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder or gender

dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA competition may

compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team

without changing that team status to a mixed team.

2. A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression

medication for Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or

Transsexualism, for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete

on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to

a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone

suppression treatment.

First, it is worth pointing out that certain language about would have been considered outdated at

the time of publication but was still used. It is also important to note here that binary medical
transition is an integral step to being allowed into collegiate-level competitive sport. The policies

are broken down further:

Any transgender student-athlete who is not taking hormone treatment related to gender

transition may participate in sex-separated sports activities in accordance with his or her

assigned birth gender.

• A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who is not taking testosterone related to

gender transition may participate on a men’s or women’s team.

• A trans female (MTF) transgender student-athlete who is not taking hormone

treatments related to gender transition may not compete on a women’s team.

The message about inclusion seems slightly lost in the legalese of the actual policies. Athlete

preference and level of comfort do not seem to have truly been taken into account. The focus

instead is on the body matters of transgender people and what steps they must take in order to be

allowed to compete. While the guidebook does, as mentioned beforehand, take time to explain

the importance of inclusion, there is no policy that states inclusivity outright - just recommended

practices. This format is also seen in the policies created around transgender Olympians.

With the entire world competing, the Olympics are often considered the peak of athletic

competition. Seeing how their rules and regulations trickle down and inform organizations like

the National Collegiate Athletic Association demonstrates the importance of creating inclusive

policy from the top. While working to make change globally by acting locally first can work in

some cases, this is one area where change at the top can and likely would lead to change below.

The policies outlined by ​The International Olympic Committee concerning the participation of

transgender individuals as written in November of 2015 are as follows:

 1. Those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male

category without restriction.

2. Those who transition from male to female are eligible to compete in the female

category under the following conditions:

2.1. The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The

declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of

four years.

2.2. The athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in

serum has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to her first

competition (with the requirement for any longer period to be based on a

confidential case-by-case evaluation, considering whether or not 12

months is a sufficient length of time to minimize any advantage in

women’s competition).

2.3. The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10

nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the

female category.

2.4. Compliance with these conditions may be monitored by testing. In the

event of non-compliance, the athlete’s eligibility for female competition

will be suspended for 12 months.

There are noticeable similarities between this policy and the former, but this one goes into

further detail about hormone levels and transition milestones, such as “declaring” your gender

identity. Again,​ athlete preference and level of comfort do not seem to have truly been taken into
account and there is no policy that states inclusivity outright. This was published and put into

place nearly four years after the the National Collegiate Athletic Association put out their

guidebook. The restrictions and regulations seemed to hold firm in that timeframe, leaving little

space for growth from up high or down low. Also, both policies target one trans community over

the other in a way that punishes an intersectional identity - and that has made quite an impact in

recent current events.

The policies reviewed thus far may seem overly focused on what many consider

masculine hormone levels, and their conditions may appear more targeted at transgender women

who are competing in women’s leagues. That is because they are. The debate over transgender

athletes competing in single-gender sports by the gender with which they identify is hyper

focused on transgender women who compete. Many heatedly argue that transgender women can

and will always outperform cisgender women because of their “more masculine” body structure,

early childhood socialisation as males, and higher testosterone levels. On the flip side of the

issue, people also generally assume that transmasculine individuals would not be at a competitive

advantage. This line of reasoning is rooted in oppositional sexism and transmisogyny. As

previously discussed, the International Olympic Committee held a forum meeting to come to a

consensus on on, “sex reassignment and hyperandrogenism” and deemed that transgender

women can compete if they meet certain conditions. That same document stated that transgender

men, “are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction,” (“IOC Consensus

Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism.”). In the United States, multiple

transgender women have been under heavy fire from people on social media after winning

competitions in women’s leagues even though they complied with all the rules and regulations
set forth for them. Most recently, Dr. Rachel McKinnon of the College of Charleston took many

blows on social media after winning the women’s cycling world championship. She followed the

regulations of the International Olympic Committee regarding hormone levels and was subjected

to routine doping tests to confirm her levels directly following her victory. Even so, the third

place runner up fired at Dr. McKinnon on Twitter and questioned the fairness of the race. In

response, Dr. McKinnon reminded the third place runner up about the numerous races that Dr.

McKinnon lost to her. She also made this statement: “If I win, they attribute it to me being trans

and having an unfair advantage. If I lose, the same people think I must not be good anyway.

People will never attribute my winning to hard work which is what I think I deserve,” (Yahoo!).

High school student Mack Beggs found himself in a similar situation after winning a

championship in wrestling that called into question transgender student athletes’ rights in

competitive sport.

Many courts are settling issues raised by parents about transgender children being part of

single-gender sports leagues and their school teams. States vary widely on policies regarding

participation of transgender children in sports. Advocates in favor of allowing transgender

children to participate in sports based on their preferred gender and parents of transgender youth

point out how the known benefits of participating in sports can improve the psychological

well-being of the transgender children, who are often at greater risk of depression, anxiety, and

other mental health issues.​ ​Opponents complain about issues of an unfair advantages, and worry

about the safety of cisgender children - both in competition and in the locker room. Recently, a

transgender high school student named Mack Beggs found himself in the spotlight of this debate.

Beggs was forced to wrestle in the girls’ state championship despite wanting to wrestle against
boys due to Texas state sport regulations requiring athletes to compete alongside athletes of their

birth gender. The University Interscholastic League, which oversees athletics in Texas public

schools, enacted a rule on August 1st that required students to wrestle against the gender listed

on their birth certificates. Beggs won this championship to great anger from many, who said it

was unfair that he was competing against girls given that he was undergoing hormone therapy;

however, those who expressed anger over his win also were not comfortable with Beggs

competing with the boys and supported the state regulation that was barring him from that

league. To reiterate, Beggs expressed numerous times that he would prefer to compete in the

boys’ state championships, was prevented from doing so, then was villainized by those keeping

him in the girls’ state championships. The chain of events concerning Beggs’ situation is a

formal fallacy, and shows why it is so important to center the experiences of marginalized

groups. Beggs knew where he wanted to be, and advocated for himself, but was still put in a

league he was not comfortable being in and then had his successes cheapened by hatred and

ignorance.

Fairness, biology, athleticism, history, and identity all combine to inform and inflame a

truly complicated debate when it comes to the Rights of transgender athletes in competitive

sport. There is a great focus on how transgender individuals can conform to rules and regulations

in order to compete where they are most comfortable; however, actual policies regarding

inclusion and safety specifically for those same individuals are not part of any statements made

by major sports organizations like the Olympics or the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

While the intention for diversity and intersectionality is there, there is more work to be done in

creating policies that align with that. The Olympic Charter states the following as the fourth of
five fundamental principles of Olympism: “The practice of sport is a human right. Every

individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in

the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity

and fair play,” (“Olympic Charter”). In that spirit, transgender individuals can and should have

the possibility of practicing sports without having to undergo rounds upon rounds of testing, or

planning their transition around competition seasons, or fear hatred from competitors and

spectators alike for experiencing success. Fairness does not mean that cisgender athletes will

always win, nor does is mean that transgender athletes will always win - it should mean that

everyone has the opportunity to work hard, compete where they are comfortable, and enjoy the

human right that is practising sport.

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