The Olympics just took a big step in the direction of equality—Transgender athletes are no longer required to undergo sex reassignment surgery in order to complete in the games.
The International Olympic Committee updated its guidelines on Monday. Transgender athletes were previously required to have sex reassignment surgery in addition to hormone therapy to be able to complete in events, but the IOC noted in their guidelines that surgery is “not necessary to preserve fair competition and may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights.”
The guidelines for trans male and trans female athletes are a bit different, suggesting that “people assigned male at birth are naturally stronger and more athletically inclined than people assigned female at birth,” BuzzFeed News reports.
People who transition from female to male have no restrictions, while those who transition from male to female have stricter guidelines. Once an athlete comes out as a woman, they must continue to compete in female competition for a minimum of four years.
In addition, a trans female athlete must meet certain testosterone levels, and they may be tested regularly to check those levels. 38 the Spot reports that this means the athletes will need to be on hormone therapy for at least a year, though that’s still much shorter than the previous requirement of two years.
The recommendations are expected to be in place before this year’s Summer Olympics. Hopefully, the IOC’s guidelines will serve as a model for future policies to come!