Running Head: TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 1

UNITED STATES SPORTS ACADEMY

Title Page

The Inclusion of Transgender Athletes in Sex Segregated Sports

A Class Paper Submitted for

SAB 661
Contemporary Issues in Sports
Professor: Dr. Tiell

by:

Wayne Pedranti

Daphne, Alabama

December, 2018
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 2

Table of Contents
Title Page ......................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3

A history of regulations and current policies .................................................................................. 5

Transgender inclusion in youth, recreational, and high school sports programs. ........................... 9

The argument of fair play. ............................................................................................................. 10

It is about human rights. ................................................................................................................ 12

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 13

References ..................................................................................................................................... 15
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 3

Introduction
In 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shook the sporting world with their

announcement that transsexual athletes would be allowed to compete in the Olympics beginning

with the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In order to compete, the athlete would be required to prove that

they complied with the three main requirements: they must have completed the necessary

surgical anatomical changes including external genitalia changes: have their new sex

identification recognized by a legal government authority; and, in order to minimize any gender

related advantages in sports competition, they must have documented evidence that they have

been on hormone treatment a sufficient length of time (Hancock & Hums, 2011; Singh, Singh, &

Sharma, 2010).

IOC’s decision to allow transsexual athletes compete in the Olympics was paramount

one. It may also have been their most controversial decision ever. Although the decision was

accepted by the LGBT community with mixedemotions, it was met with outrage by the general

community. The biggest arguments against transsexuals competing in women sports programs is

that male-to-female transsexuals have an unfair advantage in sport and the belief that future

women sports will be dominated by transsexuals. This argument is showing that it may have

some validity. In 2017 MMA fighter Fallon Fox, a former US soldier and transsexual, destroyed

her naturally born female opponent in a way that had never before seen in a female MMA event

(Epstein, O'brien, Bechtel, & Beech, 2013; also in, "Transgender athletes are unfair to women

[editorial]," 2016). More recently, Dr. Rachel McKinnon became the 2018 Masters World

Champion for the Match Sprint in track cycling (Drieir, 2018). She was taller and heavier than

her opponents.
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 4

Whereas those against transsexuals and transgender athletes competing as women are

citing fair play, the proponents for inclusion claim that it is a human rights issue. Sport is a

social construct, and in many ways, mirrors society. However sometimes it is more like a

magnifying glass that magnifies problems in society and makes them big enough for people to

see. In this way, the LGBT community compares transgender athletes being able compete in

their chosen gender to the day Jackie Robinson first played for the Montreal Royals in 1946

(Sport in transition: Making sport in Canada more responsible for gender inclusivity, 2012).

This one small act did not end racism in baseball, but it started society on a path to end

segregation in baseball and society. It forced people to reevaluate their prejudices and help

extend basic rights to everyone. Inclusion is not a fairness issue; it is a human rights issue.

In order to adequately discuss the issues around inclusion of transgender athletes, it is

necessary to begin with a common understanding of some common terms used in literature.

Transgender is an umbrella term that describes any individual whose psycological gender

identification is different than and does not match their natal sex. Whereas, A transsexual is a

person who desires to change their physical body to match their psychological gender through

the use of hormones, and/or surgery. On the other hand, a cisgender person is someone whose

personal identity and gender correspond to their birth sex. In addition, some people are

considered to be intersex. These people are born with a hormonal problem that makes them

develop sex and gender characteristics different from their natal sex.

Like many social issues, the inclusion of transgender athletes is not a simple black and

white issue. It is necessary to evaluate both arguments: fair play and human rights. It is also

necessary to review how the issue plays out in youth, high school, and recreational sports;

collegiate sports; and elite sports as the effect of inclusion can be quite different for each level of
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 5

sport participation. This paper will focus on the issues surrounding the inclusion of male to

female (mtf) transgender athletes because they have the most controversy. Although female to

male (ftm) transgender athletes have their own struggles, societies is less concerned with the fair

play with them competing on male teams.

A history of regulations and current policies

Many agree that the current fight for the inclusion of transgendered females in women

sports began with Renee Richards in 1977. The United States Tennis Association (USTA)

implemented mandatory sex verification testing to ensure that all contestants had a pair of X

chromosomes. They justified this by stating that they wanted to eliminate the chance of

imposters competing in the U.S. Open Women’s Competition for the one-million-dollar prize or

nationalistic pride (Buzuvis, 2011). As a result, Richards sued the USTA, and the New York

Supreme court ruled in her favor. Renee Richards was allowed to compete in the 1977 U.S.

Open. She lost out in the first round of singles competition, but made it to the semi-finals in the

double’s competition.

Renee Richards opened the door for many transgendered athletes to find place in women

sports throughout the world. Despite concerns of having a competitive advantage or trying to

compete with women in order to win, several athletes were able to compete in sports such as

golf, cycling, and netball. However, there was no unified policy for the inclusion of

transgendered athletes in women sports until the 2004 IOC Stockholm Consensus. This

consensus laid the groundwork for the inclusion of transsexuals in elite international sport. All

transgender athletes needed to do was meet three requirements. First, they must have undergone

sex reassignment surgery so that their body anatomically matched their gender. They had to

have their sex change officially recognized by an appropriate government agency. Finally, they
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 6

had to document that they have been on hormone replacement therapy for a sufficient amount of

time.

The Stockholm Consensus was a breakthrough ruling for transgendered athletes;

however, it was received by the community with mixed emotions. While many cherished the

opportunity to qualify for the 2008 Olympics, others cried that the rule was too strict, and not fair

for both transgender and cisgender athletes. Their arguments were centered around two of the

three requirements. First, the requirement to have your sex change recognized by an appropriate

government agency was unfair because many governments such as the United Kingdom and

New Zealand do not guaranteed recognition of a transgender person’s acquired gender (Sykes,

2011). The biggest complaint against the Stockholm Consensus was the clause requiring athletes

to have sex reassignment surgery. This is a costly and dangerous surgical procedure. It is even a

more dangerous procedure for transmen. As result, many transgender people never get the full

sex reassignment. It can be argued that the presence of a penis or a vagina does not guarantee

any athletic advantage. However, more importantly, the requirement of have sex reassignment

surgery would have to be verified with gynecological examinations, and the practice of sex

varication of women in sex segregated sports was already under an ethical challenge (Krech,

2017). The practice of sex verification testing, in any form, has already been highlighted as

human rights violation the effects cisgender, intersex and transgender women alike (Carlson,

2005; Dworkin & Cooky, 2012).

In 2011, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) issued a proactive policy

for the inclusion of transgender athletes on collegiate sporting programs. Transgendered people

were coming, and they need to prepared. NCAA based their policy on the underpinning belief on

what the role sports played in education. In general, the role of education is, and always has
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 7

been to “integrate students into the social environment and cultivate their participation in a

democratic society” (Buzuvis, 2011, p. 44). The NCAA stated in their 35 page manual on the

inclusion of transgender student-athletes that it is the responsibility of all universities to realize

that transgender students are part of the school community and should have equal access to a safe

and respectful environment and to all extracurricular activities including sports (Griffin &

Carroll, 2011). Furthermore, Griffin and Carroll (2011) listed several reasons why transgender

athletes need to have access to sport: participating in sport has positive effects on physical,

social, and emotional well-being; participation in sport provides important life lessons in

teamwork, self-discipline, success, and failure; and participation in some cases can lead to future

careers in the sports industry. Center to the NCAA’s belief in sport is that one of the purposes of

sport is to teach people to be citizens of a diverse society and to interact respectfully with others.

All students on a college campus deserve access to the benefits that participation in sports

provides.

With this in mind, the NCAA summarized their policy of inclusion into two basic rules

(Griffen & Carroll, 2011). For trans males, the rule was simple. Any trans male that has a valid

Therapeutical Use Exemption (TUE) for testosterone may compete on a men’s team, but would

no longer be eligible to compete on a women’s team. A trans male not on hormones would be

allowed to compete on a men’s team or women’s team without affecting the team’s

championship eligibility. However, the rules were a little more complex for trans female

athletes. Trans females taking testosterone suppressing medication would be able to compete on

a women’s without changing it to mixed status after being on the medication for a minimum of

one year. Trans female athletes being on testosterone suppressing drugs for less than 1 year, or

not on drugs, will not be able to compete on a women’s team without changing it to mixed status.
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 8

Mixed status teams will not be allowed to compete in women’s championships. All transgender

athletes would be required to announce their intent with the athletic director and be granted

utmost secrecy. They will be allowed to compete regardless of gender or sex listed in their

academic file.

The NCAA rules was seen as a giant leap forward from the standpoint of transgender

rights. The guidelines set by the NCAA began filtering throughout the sporting world with

community sport programs, youth sport programs and high school programs all adopting similar

rules. The IOC fallowed suit and revised their rule for transgender inclusion in 2015, just in time

for 2018 Olympic qualifications. The IOC announced that they were removing the part of the

rule that required sex reassignment surgery and government recognition. IOC’s new policy was

that trans athletes would be required to have been on documented hormone treatment for a period

of one year, and have testosterone levels below 10 nanomoles (Gleeson & Brady, 2018). This

value was reduced to 5 nanomoles in 2018 (Hellen, 2018).

This new rule saw an increase in transgender athletes becoming Olympic hopefuls. Like

the previous IOC rule, this rule was met with mixed acceptance by the LBGT community.

Although many transgenders embraced the new rules, others believed that it was to strict. Jillian

Bearden, a transgender cyclist from the USA, embraced the new rules by claiming that it was fair

for not just transgender women, but all women including cisgender and intersex athletes.

Meanwhile, Rachel McKinnon, a transgender cyclist from Canada, sees things from a human

rights issue. She argues that you can’t recognize trans women as women in society, and then

treat them differently in sport (Gleeson & Brady, 2018). This is a human rights issue, not a

transgender rights issue. McKinnon’s view point is shared by the Canadian Center for Ethics in

Sports (2016).
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 9

Transgender inclusion in youth, recreational, and high school sports programs.

Not long after the NCAA released their transgender policies, communities and schools

started looking into how they should to treat transgender individuals in areas of concern from

which bathrooms they were allowed to use to how they would be included in community and

school sport programs. There was an outcry about whether or not trans women or trans girls

should be allowed to use the women’s toilet and shower rooms. Fear of lusty boys and rape was

upon societies minds. In this way, maybe being a transgender individual is analogous to Jackie

Robinson help break down the black white barrier. Society often fears what is different or what

they do not understand.

Where prepuberty youth are concerned, with the exception on toilets and changing

rooms, most of society is an agreement. Other than genitalia, there is very little different

between girls and boys. Prepuberty boys do not have any advantage over prepuberty girls.

Likewise, transgender girls that begin transition prior to the onset of puberty never go through

male puberty; therefore, they do not have the same equity concerns as a transwoman who

transitioned after the onset of puberty (Griffin & Carroll, 2011). Therefore, it should be

acceptable for individual athletes to participate in the gender which they identify with. Mixed

gender teams are quite common at the younger ages.

The existence of transgender girls in United States High Schools is extremely

controversial. Many parents of students are fighting to keep these girls from having free access

to bathrooms and changing rooms that are in line with their gender identity. Despite the

controversy, public schools in 15 states have policies in place that allow students to participate in

sports of their chosen gender identity regardless of what gender they were assigned at birth

(Hacke, 2018). These states are often referred to as inclusive states. Most of the remaining states
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 10

deal with transgender athletes on a case to case basis. Only four states require students to

compete only in the gender on their birth certificate.

Maine was one the first states to issue an official inclusion policy. Their policy was

designed to give all students access to participate in the sex segregated sport of their choice

regardless of their birth gender, as long as they can show through a private interview that it is a

bona fide request (Clark, 2015; Morgan 2017). The inclusive states are held up as model states

and beacon of human rights. Despite this, Hacke (2018) calls foal on these programs. They lack

sufficient safeguards to ensure that cisgender athlete would be safe or that the transgender athlete

does not have an unfair advantage. This especially applies to students who are allowed to

compete without any hormone therapy.

The fear of those against inclusion mimics that of elite sports. How do we keep a fair

playing field for all participants while allowing transgender athletes to participate in their

identified gender? In states where no medical treatment is needed, how do we keep male athletes

competing on women teams just to get an easier competition? In states that do not require

hormone treatment, it is difficult to say that know male would try to hijack a female competition

just to compete in an easier field. However, Hacke (2018) makes note of several cases where

trans athletes were able to perform better against girls than they would ever have done against

males.

The argument of fair play.

One of the main arguments against the inclusion of transgender is fair play. This

argument is largely based on the belief that transgender female athletes benefit from life with

testosterone. Trans athletes benefit from previous muscular development, higher testosterone

levels, better muscle to fat ratio, and greater heart and lung capacity (Sykes, 2011). Buzuvis
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 11

(2011) adds to this list that previous exposure to testosterone gives a transgender female a higher

percentage type II muscle fibers, thicker and denser bones, higher levels of hemoglobin, and an

overall larger frame then their cisgender counterparts. All this gives transgender athletes an

unfair advantage.

Recent success of transgender athletes like Fallon Fox’s total domination of Tamikka

Brents ("Transgender athletes are unfair to women," 2016) or Rachel McKinnon’s gold medal in

the 200m Match Sprint at the 2018 Masters Track Championships (Dreier, 2018) appear to

support the unfair advantage claim. Trans women that could not compete in men’s event are

claiming victories in women’s events.

The IOC and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has set the

testosterone limit a 5 nanomoles per liter. However, the average female has testosterone levels

that range from 0.20 nmol/L to 3 nmol/L. This gives a trans athlete at the higher end of the

acceptance limit a clear advantage ("Transgender athletes are unfair to women [editorial],"

2016).

Supporters of transgender athletes counter the unfair advantage argument on two fronts.

The first is discredit the logic behind the unfair advantage argument by claiming that the

argument is actually based on a flawed thinking. They like to claim that argument has three

underpinning assumptions: anyone exposed to testosterone will be a good athlete, males are

better athletes than females, and males will change gender just to reap the benefits (Sykes, 2011).

The second argument is that the effects of estrogen undo many of the benefits gained from

testosterone (Tagg, 2012). They report that after one year of hormone treatment, trans women

show a considerable reduction in muscle mass and an increase in fat percentage. Furthermore,
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 12

many athletes like Jillian Bearden and Rachel McKinnon reported a reduction in performance

after they started on hormones.

There is only one study that supports the reduced performance observation. Harper

(2015) observed that 7 out of 8 trans athletes showed a decrease in long distance running times

after they started estrogen therapy. However, this study was on a very small sample, had no

control group, and only investigated distance runners.

When it comes to studying the trans athlete advantage, there has not been a sufficient

number of studies to either prove or disprove that trans athletes have an unfair advantage.

However, it is hard to argue that a 7´1” tall trans basketball player does not have any advantage

over other women basketball players.

It is about human rights.

For the proponents of transgender inclusion, the real issue is not about fair play, but about

human rights. If society accepts the non-binary view of gender, then it follows that trans women

are women. If we accept that they are women, then we must grant them all the rights of women

including free access to sports at all levels of competition.

The heart of the rights violation is mandatory gender testing to enforce sex segregation.

However, science tells us that gender is not binary, sport authorities continue to fit everything

into a binary system. The problem with that sex is not binary and sex characteristics that are

related to athletic performance cannot necessarily be completely identified, cannot be directly

measured (Bailystok, 2016). Unfortunately, in order to identify womanhood, the IOC needs a

measurable parameter. For this purpose, the IOC and the IAAF has decided that a woman is a

person whose blood testosterone level is below 5 nmol/L.

TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 13

For the purpose of segregation, a woman has to prove that she is a woman by submitting

herself to a test that proves that she does not have more than 5 nmols/L testosterone in her blood.

This test definitely affects trans women, but it also affects intersexed women like the South

African runner Caster Semenya. She was born with a rare chromosomal disorder that forces her

body to produce more than normal testosterone (Hellen, 2018). Under the new rules, she will be

required to medically reduce her testosterone levels in order to compete. With a stroke of the

pen, the IOC and IAAF have decided the Semenya is not female enough to compete in a woman

segregated sport.

There are other problems with gender testing. Mainly, the IOC and IAAF only require

testing of female athletes. Men do not need to prove they are men. Testing only women

enforces the idea that women could never be great athletes (Dworkin & Cooky, 2012).

Mandatory sex testing has been around for a long time. It has come in many forms. First it was

visual anatomy checks. Next it was chromosome testing. Now it is functional testosterone

testing. In all the years of testing, there has never been a case of a man pretending to be a

woman. However, there have several cases of women with some type chromosomal disorder

being discovered (Love, 2014). This always resulted in humiliation or some cases forced surgery

to remove internal gonads (International Business Times, 2013).

Mandatory gender testing is not ethical, and is a direct violation of human rights.

Unfortunately, until society is able to combine the plight of the transgender and the intersex, no

changes will be made (Wahlert & Fiester, 2012).

Conclusion
The issue with the inclusion of transgender athletes is not a simple black and white case.

It is not just about men wanting to be woman that want to compete in sports against other
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 14

women. It is about human rights and the rights of all women. Women should not have to prove

that they are women in order to participate in sport. Transgender women and intersex women, if

accepted in society as being women, should be able to compete in sport at all levels.

Unfortunately, the proponents for inclusion have not sufficiently shown that transgender

females do not have an unfair advantage of their cisgender counterparts. For this, more research

needs to be done to see the effects on transitioning on athletes. What changes in performance

should we expect? Until this happens, people are going to consider any transgender athlete as

only winning because they used to be a man.

It is a brave new world. Sport is a social construct. If society does not like the rules, they

have the power to change them.

TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 15

References
Buzuvis, E. (2011). Transgender student-athletes and sex-segregated sport: Developing policies

of inclusion for intercollegiate and interscholastic athletics. Seton Hall Journal of Sports

& Entertainment Law, 21(1), 1-59.

Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. (2016). Creating Inclusive Environments for Trans

Participants in Canadian Sport.

Carlson, A. (2005). Essay: Suspect sex. Medicine and Sport, 366(12), S39-S40.

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(05)67842-7

Clark, E. (2015, May 29). Maine among first states with transgender sports participation

policy. Bangor Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.bangordailynews.com

Drieir, F. (2018, October 18). Commentary: The complicated case of transgender cyclist Dr.

Rachel McKinnon. Velonews.

Dworkin, S. L., & Cooky, C. (2012). Sport, sex segregation, and sex testing: Critical reflections

on this unjust marriage. The American Journal of Bioethics, 12(7), 21-23.

doi:10.1080/15265161.2012.680545

Epstein, D., O'brien, R., Bechtel, M., & Beech, M. (2013, March 18). Come out fighting. Sports

illustrated, 118(12), 18.

Gleeson, S., & Brady, E. (2018, January 11). Debate over what is fair. USA Today, p. 01c.

Griffin, P., & Carroll, C. (2011). NCAA inclusion of transgender student-athletes. Retrieved

from NCAA Office of Inclusion website:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2bc3fc_44693cb5d779311cabc005d959e9486d.pdf

Hacke, R. D. (2018). “Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls”: The emergence of the

transgender athlete and a defensive game plan for high schools that want to keep their
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 16

playing fields level for athletes of both genders. Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports

Law, 18(2), 131 - 153. Retrieved from

http://proxy.ussa.edu:2057/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=132780086&site=ehost

-live

Hancock, M., & Hums, M. A. (2011). Participation by transsexual and transgender athletes:

Ethical dilemmas needing ethical decision making skills. ICSSPE Bulletin, 62, 6.

Retrieved from

http://proxy.ussa.edu:2057/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=95769419&site=ehost-

live

Harper, J. (2015). Race times for transgender athletes. Journal of Sporting Cultures and

Identities, 6(1), 1-9. doi:10.18848/2381-6678/cgp/v06i01/54079

Hellen, N. (2018, April 22). Transgender athletes face tougher Olympic rules. The Australian

Times. Retrieved from https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/transgender-athletes-face-

tougher-olympic-rules/news-story/04adcdf72681bdaf2dc7545e1e3e1764

International Business Times. (2013, June 23). Transgender female Olympic athletes 'castrated'

in order to compete in sports. International Business times.

Kornei, K. (2018, July 25). This scientist is racing to discover how gender transitions alter

athletic performance'including her own. Retrieved from

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/scientist-racing-discover-how-gender-

transitions-alter-athletic-performance-including

Krech, M. (2017). To be a woman in the world of sport: Global regulation of the gender binary

in elite athletics. Berkeley Journal of International Law, 35(2), 262-294. Retrieved from

DOI: 10.15779/Z38PK07210
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES 17

Love, A. (2014). Transgender Exclusion and Inclusion in Sport. Routledge Handbook of Sport,

Gender and Sexuality, 376-383. doi:10.4324/9780203121375.ch40

Morgan, R. (2017). Model high school athletic transgender Ppolicy: Saskatchewan High Schools

Athletic Association (SHSAA) transgender policy. The Physical Educator, 74(72.5), 146-

168. doi:10.18666/tpe-2017-v74-si1-8558

Singh, B., Singh, K., & Sharma, N. (2010). Equality, equity and inclusion: Transgender athletes'

participation in competitive sports - a New Era. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and

Research, 49(1), 85-88. doi:10.2478/v10141-010-0020-2

Sport in transition: Making sport in Canada more responsible for gender inclusivity. (2012).

Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports.

Sykes, H. (2011). Transsexual and transgender policies in sport. ICSSPE Bulletin, 62(7).

Retrieved from

http://proxy.ussa.edu:2057/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=95769420&site=ehost-

live

Tagg, B. (2012). Transgender netballers: Ethical issues and lived realities. Sociology of Sport

Journal, 29(2), 151-167. doi:10.1123/ssj.29.2.151

Transgender athletes are unfair to women [editorial]. (2016, January 28). The Times [Scottish

Section], p. 26.

Wahlert, L., & Fiester, A. (2012). Gender transports: Privileging the “natural” in gender testing

debates for intersex and transgender athletes. The American Journal of Bioethics, 12(7),

19-21. doi:10.1080/15265161.2012.683750