Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) prohibited transgender women from competing in women’s categories. Kirsty Coventry, president of the committee, says it is “very clear” that the male chromosome gives advantages to athletes in sports that involve strength, power and resistance, making sports unequal for “biological women”.
Due to this new rule, female athletes must undergo a genetic test once during their career to identify the SRY gene, which reveals the presence of the Y chromosome. Whoever tests positive for it won’t be allowed to compete.
However, this decision was strongly rejected by trans people, who argue that it is not only about “biology”, but also part of a transphobic rhetoric that is becoming increasingly popular around the world and takes away the rights of the trans community.
The Standards of trans women in sports
Before this new rule, transgender women were allowed to compete, as long as they followed specific criteria that placed them in similar physical conditions to cisgender women. This included maintaining testosterone levels below 10nmol/L (the lowest common level in cisgender men) for at least 12 months before the games.
But, even if such criteria is followed, transgender athletes must prove they are competing fairly all the time, and that they aren’t like cisgender men.
During the whole Olympics’ history, only one trans woman has competed as an official athlete: Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand. Although she had a “physical advantage”, according to this prejudiced way of thinking, she didn’t win any medal.
Another well-known case, outside the Olympics, is the one of Tifanny Abreu, a Brazilian professional volleyball player. Her body capacity is constantly questioned, and by the end of February, she had to appeal to the Supreme Court to fight against a law that forbade her from playing in Londrina (PR).
She had testosterone levels in 0,2 nmol/L in some exams, and her performances throughout her professional volleyball career has been within the average range of other female athletes. Sports professionals evaluate that she is still a good player, but not in the highest level, especially if compared to men.
What does science actually say?
In 2024, an article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine evaluated and compared strength, power and aerobic capacity in cisgender and transgender athletes. The results showed something different than an absolute advantage: trans women’s forced expiratory volume, relative jump height and relative volume of oxygen were lower compared to cisgender women. The conclusion of the article said: “While longitudinal transitioning studies of transgender athletes are urgently needed, these results should caution against precautionary bans and sport eligibility exclusions that are not based on sport-specific […] research.”
It means that, instead of banning trans women from sports in a definitive way, each case should be analyzed including their particular circumstances and the rules and conditions of the sport.
Not allowing a group of people to participate in Olympics and other official competitions is more harmful than fair. It takes away the right to leisure from trans people and spreads transphobia through biased speeches. The Brazilian National Association of Travesties and Transgenders (ANTRA) manifested against the new rule, stating: “Throughout history, biology has been used as a political tool to restrict rights and test supposed hierarchies of superiority”. That is what IOC’s decision proves: science is political and partial when it comes to trans people.
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The article above was edited by Rafaela Mina.
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