Comes into effect this Friday (31) a new regulation, approved by World Athletics, that prevents the presence of trans athletes, who made the transition from male to female after puberty, in women’s athletic competitions.
The measure was approved on March 23. There, it was decided that only athletes who registered a testosterone concentration of up to 2.5 nanomols per liter of blood, during the two years prior to the competition, would be allowed to compete with cisgender athletes.
According to the “Observer”, Coe compoundspresident of World Athletics, states that this resolution serves to “protect the women’s category in our sport”, but guarantees that “we’re not saying ‘no’ forever”. Furthermore, he ensures that the decision was taken after consulting “more than 40 federations, athletes, coaches and trans groups, experts from the UN and the International Olympic Committee”. The president added that a working group would be created to study a future possible inclusion.
In 2022, the same criteria – which prohibited trans women who went through male puberty from participating in competitions – were announced by International Swimming Federation. The same happened in rugby, for Rugby Football Union.
Measures that “do nothing” for equity
A Athlete Ally is a United States organization that fights for the rights of LGBTQ+ athletes. To JPN, by email, the organization opposes that these measures “do nothing to ensure equity” in sport.
Joanna Hoffmancommunication director, states that the criteria approved go against”the inclusive parameters” defined by the International Olympic Committee, in 2021 – such as, for example, the need to ensure that athletes are not banned for alleged or unverified advantages. Furthermore, he says that they contradict a “extensive research which shows that transgender women have no inherent advantages in sport”, referring to the findings of a E-Alliance study, on the relationship between these women and elite sport, released in 2021.
The association also argues that this decision harms trans athletes because “it prevents them from having a path to the Olympic Games and globally”. It also refers that these decisions, contrary to what has been alleged, do not protect the female modality Given the do not correct threats to women “truly proven” – as “wage inequality, harassment and sexual abuselack of women in leadership positions e resource inequality for female athletes.
Solutions such as creating a separate category would “increasing isolation and discrimination that trans athletes suffer,” according to Joanna Hoffman. Furthermore, it deprives athletes of what is “the best part of sport – learning and improving with a diverse group of colleagues and develop friendships to to life”.
For Athlete Ally, an inclusive measure would be allowing “transgender women” to participate without forcing them to hide who they are or to undergo unnecessary medical procedures to do so”.
Article edited by Ângela Rodrigues Pereira
