How To Include Trans Women And Women With DSD In Sports.

The issue of trans women and natal women with DSD competing in the female sports category is highly controversial, so much so that even my trans friends cannot currently agree. I have also discussed this issue with Dame Kelly Holmes, DBE, OLY, and we agree it is a toxic issue.

A big thank you to “B” “M” and “A” who sit on the other side of this debate (meaning they were originally of the view trans women should not participate in the female category of sport) for critique and ideas, which has been added to this blog. The ideas expressed are not necessarily the view of us all, and I know many trans activists and gender critical alike will not like these words.

There is unlikely to be a one size fits all solution to this issue, and the different sports federations will have to seek different solutions by working with others and, in particular female participants who could be impacted by inclusion.

I also want to add that I consider myself a “human rights activist”, not specifically a “trans rights activist”. I do so because I am a dedicated feminist and was elected Women’s Officer at my local Labour Party in October 2021. I am very aware that women are oppressed and that I am duty-bound to advocate for all women, and that within sport, trans rights and women’s rights conflict.

BACKGROUND.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) first agreed to allow transgender women to compete in the Olympics in 2004. However, the rules at the time were very restrictive, requiring transgender women to have undergone gender reassignment surgery and to have been on hormone therapy for at least two years.

In 2015, the IOC updated its guidelines to allow transgender women to compete without undergoing surgery. The new guidelines also set a limit on testosterone (T) levels for transgender women, requiring them to have T levels below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months before competing. Since then, many individual sports organisations have strengthened rules reducing T levels of trans women athletes or, more recently, introduced so-called “open” categories, which in reality is rebranding the men’s category to look inclusive when it’s not.

In 2022, the IOC released a new framework on fairness, inclusion, and non-discrimination based on gender identity and sex variations. The framework emphasises the importance of human rights and athlete consultation in developing policies for transgender athletes. It also calls for a more individualised approach to eligibility criteria rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. The IOC’s guidelines on transgender athletes are still evolving, and there is ongoing debate about the best way to ensure fairness in women’s sports.

The number of trans women that have participated in the Olympics since 2004 is disputed; some say one, others two, but for sure, no trans woman has ever won a medal at the Olympic games. The same story applies in national competitions — trans women have not won any elite-level medal in any major sport.

There is no doubt that trans women and trans men are grossly underrepresented in all sports in the UK.

THE DISPUTE

Despite not winning any significant medals, critics of trans women participating in the female category argue they take a women’s place. They claim that reducing testosterone is not enough to eradicate any advantage from male puberty and that trans women are not women.

Trans people and allies argue the contrary, pointing out that no significant medals have been won and that no significant male advantage is retained from puberty. They point to the lack of success of trans women athletes as proof there is no advantage from male puberty subject to testosterone suppression for two years.

THE SCIENCE:

Many commentators suggest that male advantage is retained from male puberty even after testosterone suppression — sometimes known as ‘competition advantage’. However, that advantage may be insignificant in some sports or specific events. The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport has published evidence that the science that has led to trans women being effectively banned in participating in elite-level sports within the female category is flawed.

Sport is not just about human biology; numerous other factors create “the winner”, the most common being money. This is known as financial doping. A prime example is football, particularly the UK’s Premier League — Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea — you take your choice.

Testosterone massively benefits athletes’ performance, though each person’s receptors will vary- this makes research difficult. The fact is that much more research is required on elite trans athletes participating in sports, and this will likely take decades, in particular, if trans people are not involved in elite-level sports, which at this time is exactly the case.

Different sports and events also require differing characteristics (speed, strength, height, endurance, reaction, etc.); how this can be measured from trans women athletes and translated into “fairness” (given the complexity of human beings) is a challenging question.

Frankly, I don’t think science will ever give us all the answers as there are so many variables in different sports/events, in human anatomy and biology.

SAFETY:

The safety of participants in sports is paramount; of course, no trans woman should participate in any sport if there are safety risks to other competitors.

HUMAN RIGHTS

I am an inclusionist, meaning I would only exclude people from sports if they cheat or there are safety issues. I believe every human being has the right to participate in sports and have a chance to win in “meaningful competition”.

PUBLIC PERCEPTION:

The UK right-wing press, in particular, has written extensively on the issue of trans women participating in the female category, invariably importing stories from the US and elsewhere. The hostility created against the trans community has been immense, which has clearly damaged the public perception of trans people.

Because of this, I don’t think trans women participating in the current female category at the elite level is “sellable” to the public. When I talk to people about trans people, they are always supportive, except for trans women competing in elite-level female sports, often arguing that women’s sport still takes a “back seat” in comparison to men. No one can argue that this isn’t true, and we should all be working together for the equality of everyone …ensuring trans people are not left behind.

A quick note about trans cyclist Emily Bridges. In my opinion, Emily was treated abominably, and she has my utmost sympathy — British Cycling should be ashamed that they changed their rules overnight purposefully to exclude her. I also want to condemn those who led an utterly vile and transphobic campaign against Emily Bridges and are now setting their sights on those few trans women who take part in grassroots sports.

No one can help how they are born.

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships was held in Scotland from 3rd to 13th August 2023. Some 2600 athletes took part. Not one was transgender.

Currently, the World Athletics Championships are taking place in Hungary; there are 1900 athletes competing for bronze, silver, and gold medals. Not one is transgender.

This situation must change.

HOW CAN TRANS WOMEN AND WOMEN WITH DSD BE INCLUDED IN SPORTS?

1: FULL INCLUSION.

Where possible, when no definite advantage can be established (such as likely to be the case in diving, curling and bowls, for example), trans women should be able to compete with born females.

2: A TRANS CATEGORY.

I often hear from people, “Form your own category”, and if there were enough trans women athletes, that would be fair. Except in most sports, there aren’t enough trans women athletes. A trans category may be possible in sports where millions of people participate.

The 2021 Census revealed there were 30,420,195 women in England and Wales but just 48,000 trans women. In short trans women are outnumbered by cisgender women at a ratio of 633 to 1.

Additional evidence comes from British Triathlon taking a survey from members asking their views on trans women’s participation — just 16 (0.5% of the respondents) were transgender. Given that only 10% of members participated in the survey, this indicates how small the trans community is, given most trans people were very likely to be respondents to the study.

We don’t know what percentage were trans men or trans women, but British Triathlon are certainly not forming a new category for potentially eight trans women and eight trans men, all of whom are likely to be at a grassroots level.

3: OPEN CATEGORY.

Another popular idea is an “open category” that includes cisgender men. However, trans women are not men, nor do they have the same testosterone levels as men. Cisgender men’s T levels will be between 10 nmol/L and 35 nmol/L. The female range is 0.5 nmol/L — 2.5 nmol/L, while testosterone-suppressed trans women will possibly be as low as 0.1 nmol/L.

How will that affect athletic performance? A reduction of between 6% and 12% depending on receptors — possibly more. Open categories will not provide trans women meaningful competition — more like embarrassing competition with them always coming last.

I suspect “open categories” are (forgive the pun) wide “open” for a legal challenge — they are blatantly discriminatory and contrary to IOC guidelines and, in my view, transphobic.

4: NEW CATEGORIES.

Quite possibly, some events could have an additional category created, rather like in the Paralympics, where impairments are graded into groups and classes. In essence, this may mean (at the Olympics, for example) there could be two finals for some events. This will certainly require some experimentation, but possibly T suppressed trans women, T boosted trans men and athletes with DSD could compete with each other in celebration of the diversity of the human race.

5: MIXED EVENTS.

We have seen the introduction of mixed events in recent years, including in athletics, where a 4 x 400 metre became popular with two men and two women running a 400-metre leg each. Perhaps that format could be extended for a team to consist of trans and athletes with DSD?

6: HANDICAP EVENTS.

Another idea is for sporting federations to introduce (if possible) handicap events based on previous performances that, in certain circumstances, may include disabled people too. These would run in addition to existing events. Handicap events would consist of men, women, trans people, and people currently banned because of DSD — indeed, anyone because biology would not matter.

I like this idea because disabled sport has little voice and would give disadvantaged human beings centre stage.

7: COMPETE AND REDACT.

In the “Compete and Redact” scenario, testosterone-suppressed trans women athletes compete with cisgender women athletes in current events, but positions and times are redacted from the finishing positions and official times. One way of looking at this is that the trans woman would compete as a “guest”. The same ‘Compete and Redact’ principle could apply to athletes with DSD, a prominent example being Caster Semenya.

Trans women’s finishing times would be officially recorded as “trans women’s” in a separate category, and medals (if any) would be given in a ‘trans ceremony’ depending on finishing position.

For example, if a trans woman finished third in the 100 metres Olympic final, she would receive a bronze medal in a separate ‘trans ceremony’, that would include other trans athletes who participated in different events.

In contrast, the female in the fourth position in the 100-metre final would get a bronze medal as, officially, she would be placed third.

To ensure trans women did not take more places than we are in society at large, the number of trans women able to participate in competitions would need to be limited pro-rata to born females — approximately 0.18% or less, meaning at least 99.82% of athletes in women’s events would be born female. Provision must also be made for women with DSD — they can’t help how they were born, either.

This article centres on trans women and women with DSD, who are the focus of public discourse, but trans men have their own struggles when competing in sports, in that they are denied male puberty. The “Compete and Redact” can still play a part by adapting the rules to give them the recognition they deserve.

I believe the public would support Compete and Redact in sports as cisgender people are not compromised. Further, it increases trans visibility and offers data for scientists to undertake further research in competition settings.

CONCLUSION:

Obviously, there is a need for continuing discussion within sports federations with the aim of maximum inclusion of all human beings balanced with maximum fairness — but I simply deplore people being excluded because of who they are and how they were born.

Human rights are ….for everyone.