Inclusively Exclusive: Transgender Women in Sport

Picture this:

 You have trained for months, years to be honest, and there you are standing on the top step of the podium, wearing a world champion jersey. You have just won the UCI track cycling sprint world championship race, and you have just made history. In just minutes, you have become the first transgender athlete to win a UCI world cycling championship, and in just minutes later, you are greeted by a world of backlash for it. But you did not cheat, so what is the problem? 

This was the reality for track cyclist, Dr. Rachel McKinnon. The problem many saw was that she is transgender women and must have had an unfair advantage over the other women to claim the win. Transgender is an umbrella term used for persons whose gender identity does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. So, if you once were a man so you must be stronger and have more testosterone because of that, right? Well, the short answer is no, that is not quite how it works.

Beyond the significant challenges of lack of legal protection, poverty, harassment and stigma, violence, barriers to healthcare, and identity documents, there is also controversy on the subject of transgender athletes. The claim is that transgender athletes, specifically female transgender athletes, have an unfair advantage over their competitors. For this reason, many people do not believe they should be allowed to compete. However, in our society, the right to participate in sport is universal. This goes along with the International Olympic Committee philosophy as well. The IOC’s belief in inclusivity is as follows, 

“The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” 

The idea is to foster a fair and inclusive environment for sport to occur in. There is great tension in promoting inclusivity while still creating rules that govern a society that in unfair and inherently unequal.

One of the claims is that trans women have more testosterone than cis women and thus have an unfair advantage. However, studies have shown that there is not a relationship between testosterone in terms of performance in males. There is evidence of performance decreasing when you lower someone's natural testosterone production, whether that be through hormone suppression therapy or the loss of a testicle. But, the decrease in performance is not because of less testosterone. Performance decreases because when you lower someone's testosterone levels, the body isn’t used to it and has to learn to adapt. The opposite occurs when you add more endogenous natural testosterone. It has nothing to do with actual levels and everything to do with the body's ability to adapt. We see 1 in 6 elite male track and field athletes have lower than average female testosterone levels, yet perform at a higher level. So, it can all be about testosterone. 

Other researchers, however, cite evidence to counter this way of thinking, and there is also the case of the “eye-ball” test. The eyeball-test shows us that all the fastest male marathon runners/cyclists/rowers, weightlifters, etc. (the list could continue forever) are faster than the fastest females. The most noticeable difference that many see between men and women is that men produce more testosterone. So, many attribute their higher levels of performance, their higher levels of testosterone. But the performance gaps between men and women are closing. This is likely because women are more widely accepted in sport and are given greater opportunities and resources to excel. Thus, allowing for higher performance. 

Trans women are taller and heavier than cis women. Not only is this intimidating to cis female competitors but is also sparks thoughts of unfairness because of body-type. However, different body types excel in various areas, and Vice Versa. Micheal Phelps's body is designed perfectly for swimming, but you wouldn’t say that he has an unfair advantage. A track cyclist who is stocky is typically better than an incredibly lean track cyclist, but you would not say they have an advantage. They just have the right body type for what they are doing.

This is the case for Dr. McKinnon. She is tall and built for track cycling. She looks like she can put out a massive amount of power. However, upon analysis, her power records are not anything unusual or out of this world. Her physique is misleading and triggers fear and out-lash in others. People automatically go to the fact that she is trans and has more testosterone, and that is why she has more power and that body type. However, she has less testosterone than the average woman, in fact, her levels are so low that it’s almost undetectable. 

            

Creating rules that restrict trans people of their ability to participate and compete in sport is denying their right to participate, which goes against the IOC’s charter. People who identify as trans already face significant challenges such as stigmatization, discrimination, and violence. Stripping them of their ability to participate in sport (for un-just reasons) only denies them of another right and ostracizes them even further.