The Issue of Transgender in Sporting Activities

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Inclusivity versus Fairness
Strength Advantage
Hormone Therapy’s Inefficiency
Defense and Rebuttal
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Many individuals depend on sports for livelihood, motivation, and entertainment. The field of professional competitive sports provides individuals with fame, financial awards, and strong feelings of achievement. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) and World Athletics management exist to promote inclusivity and fairness in sports. However, the emergence of transgender participants in competitive sports causes meaningful debate worldwide, especially in female sports. Despite various claims in favor of gender inclusivity in sports, the physical peculiarities of gender-specific hormones will never let the competition between transgender and cisgender competitors be fair.

Inclusivity versus Fairness

Allowing transgender people to participate in men’s and women’s sports promotes inclusivity but jeopardizes justice. Harper et al. support the necessity to maintain impartiality in sports for the right people to receive credit (867). However, allowing transgender professionals to participate in women’s and men’s tournaments significantly compromises fairness. Bianchi claims that gender issues mostly affect female sports because having masculine traits gives transgender women benefits similar to doping (337). Tiffany Abreu and Stephanie Barrett are volleyball and archery professionals allowed by the IOC to compete with cisgender women directly (Richardson). Nonetheless, the guidelines cause more disquiet than peace, eliciting the need for a lasting solution to the issue.

Strength Advantage

Transgender women’s increased body strength and mass make it unfair for them to compete with cisgender women in the same sporting categories. According to Harper et al., “transgender women’ have muscular benefits even after the testosterone-targeted hormone therapy” (467). Jones et al. report that an individual’s body strength depends on the testosterone hormone level (705). The IOC sets the recommended testosterone level for transgender women to participate in female games for inclusivity and fairness. However, Harper et al. suggest that hormone treatment on transgender women boosts estrogen intensities but leaves the characters sturdier than the cis women (471). Therefore, relying on therapies and IOC recommendations does not offer a compelling answer but leads to endless court cases that make the situation more difficult.

Hormone Therapy’s Inefficiency

After receiving hormonal therapy suggested by IOC, transgender professionals still have the advantage of a skeleton structure and hemoglobin levels. Bianchi links skeletal muscle strength to increased physical activity, thus refuting the possibility of competitive fairness among transgender women and cisgender women (236). According to Richardson and Chen, humans develop body features during puberty, with most developed features, such as physical strength and stronger skeletal structure, irreversible (1858). The researchers insist that fairness is realizable if hormone therapy occurs before puberty. Subsequently, the point that almost all correctional therapies among trans-sport persons occur post-puberty means that no current intervention promotes fairness. As a result, many professional sportspeople undergoing hormonal therapy are disqualified. For example, Castor Semenya, a long-distance runner, was barred from the competition for high testosterone levels (Streed and Sieger). The aspect reiterates the need for an additional sporting category for transgender persons with time.

Defense and Rebuttal

One of the arguments in favor of transgender sportspeople’s participation in the competition is that the IOC explicitly allows such participation if transgender people take hormone suppression therapy. For example, Harper et al. note that the IOC rules allow transgender female competitors with serum testosterone intensities at ten nmol/L for a year to participate equally with the natural women (869). However, evidence shows that even one year of suppression therapy does not bring the expected results, claiming only a 5% change in hemoglobin levels (Ivy and Mitchell). Moreover, the therapy itself disrupts the complicated and challenging process of hormone replacement therapy. For this reason, the existing guidelines on transgender people’s participation in competitive sports do not provide a solution, making the competition unfair for both transgender and cisgender people.

Conclusion

Sporting participation should be categorized based on gender to promote fairness. Establishing specific competition categories for transgender sports professionals will avert the current disputes concerning the group’s involvement in men’s and women’s games. Equally, the strategy will reduce the potential bodily harm caused by hormone therapies to transgender people. Lastly, introducing a just platform in sports promises to end social branding resulting from the current unfairness in sports.

Works Cited

Bianchi, Andria. “Transgender Women in Sport.” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 44, no. 2, 2017, pp. 229-242.

Harper, Joanna, Lima, Giscard et al. “The fluidity of gender and implications for the biology of inclusion for transgender and intersex athletes.” Current sports medicine reports, vol. 17, no. 12, 2018, pp. 467-472.

Harper, Joanna, O’Donell, Emma et al. “How Does Hormone Transition in Transgender Women Change Body Composition, Muscle Strength and Hemoglobin? Systematic Review with a Focus on the Implications For Sport Participation.” British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 55, no. 15, 2021, pp. 865-872.

Ivy, Veronica and Chelsea Mitchell. “Why Are Transgender Opympians Proving So Controversial?” The Economist, Web.

Jones, Bethany Alice, et al. “Sport and Transgender People: A Systematic Review of The Literature Relating to Sport Participation and Competitive Sport Policies.” Sports Medicine, vol. 47, No.4, 2017, pp. 701-716.

Richardson, Andrew, and Mark A. Chen. “Comment On: “Sport and Transgender People: A Systematic Review of the Literature Relating to Sport Participation and Competitive Sport Policies”.” Sports Medicine, vol. 50, no.10, 2020, pp. 1857-1859.

Streed, Carl G., and Jennifer Siegel. “POV: Cheering a More Inclusive Olympic Games.” BU Today, Web.

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