FINA’s decision to effectively ban transgender women from participating in elite aquatic events is the latest in a cavalcade of decisions, controversies and amendments surrounding gender inclusion in elite sport.
It may represent one of the most stringent policies to date, but it was not the first. The involvement of gender diverse, non-binary and transgender women in professional sports has long been debated.
1932: Stanislawa Walasiewicz
Walasiewicz, who later became known as Stella Walsh, has gone down in history as the first person recorded to compete in elite women’s sport despite not being a biological female. Born in Poland in 1911, Walsh and her family immigrated to the United States where she picked up track and field. After setting a world record in the 100-yard dash in 1930, she went to the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, winning gold in the 100-metre race and equalling the world record with a time of 11.9 seconds.
Walsh died in a shooting during a robbery in Cleveland in 1980. Her autopsy revealed that she lived with a chromosomal disorder called mosaicism which left her without a uterus and a non-functioning, underdeveloped penis.
1976: Renée Richards
As one of the first openly transgender professional athletes, American tennis player Richards has been lauded as a pioneer.
Her gender reassignment in 1976 triggered calls from the United States Tennis Association for all female competitors to complete hormone and chromosome testing. Richards refused, which resulted in a ban from competing at the US Open, Wimbledon and the Italian Open.
Renee Richards hits a return during the Women’s 1977 US Open tennis championship.Credit:Getty Images
Richards sued the USTA for discrimination by gender, eventually winning her legal action. She catapulted herself into elite women’s tennis, reaching the doubles final at the 1977 US Open, ranking as the world’s 20th best female player in February 1979, and later coaching nine-time Wimbledon winner Martina Navratilova.
2004: transgender athletes permitted in the Olympics
Transgender athletes were given the green light to compete in the Olympic Games, starting from the Athens Games. The ruling covered both male-to-female and female-to-male cases, but the International Olympic Committee imposed conditions including:
- Completion of surgical changes, including external genitalia changes and removal of gonads.
- Legal recognition of their assigned sex must have been conferred.
- Hormone therapy for the assigned sex must have been given for long enough to minimise any gender-related advantages in sport competitions, a period that must be at least two years after gonadectomy.
2004: Mianne Bagger
Bagger revolutionised the professional golfing world after her participation in the 2004 Women’s Australian Open as the first openly transitioned woman to compete.
Golfer Mianne Bagger.Credit:AP
The Danish golfer lobbied tirelessly to get the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour to remove its “female at birth” entry condition, and the Ladies European Tour and US Golf Association also amended their policies.
Although golf organisations still abide by relatively strict gender policies, Bagger was instrumental in leading to change.
2007: Parinya Charoenphol
Charoenphol is a transgender Thai boxer.
Charoenphol, who also features in music videos, movies and documentaries in Thailand, shone a spotlight on the boxing world when she returned to fight as a woman in 2007 after having sex reassignment surgery.
She now runs a boxing camp alongside American actor-writer Steven Khan, hoping to teach young children Thai boxing and to increase trans representation beyond professional fights.
2013: Fallon Fox
Fox was the first openly transgender woman to compete in mixed martial arts.
A member of the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame since 2014, Fox was initially met with intense scrutiny and criticism of her participation in women’s MMA when she came out as transgender in 2013.
The Championship Fighting Alliance eventually backed Fox, allowing her to fight. Fox went on to win five out of her six professional MMA fights between 2012 and 2014. The 46-year-old has continued to speak out for trans and other LGBTQI+ rights, with a stance so strong that the documentary, Game Face, was filmed to track Fox’s personal and professional journey.
2014: Chelsea Wolfe
Wolfe may be best known for her incredible freestyle performances on the concrete playground, but her social campaigning around gendered involvement in sport cannot be ignored.
As one of the highest-ranked BMX freestylers in the United States, Wolfe came out as transgender in 2014.
American BMX rider Chelsea Wolfe in a training session ahead of last year’s Tokyo Olympics.Credit:AP
She was already familiar with elite BMX circles, having competed alongside male athletes years before her transition. In 2021, she placed fifth at the world championships and earned a spot as an alternate for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Some racy comments regarding burning a flag in response to the Trump administration’s handling of transgender participation in sports generated global headlines, demonstrating Wolfe’s steadfast commitment to being a spokesperson for trans rights.
2015: Savannah Burton
Dodgeball was thrust into the mainstream after the release of the popular Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn film, but Burton brought the sport to the fore in a much more impactful way.
Burton became the first openly transgender athlete to compete for Canada internationally after she joined the Canadian National Dodgeball team in 2015. She went on to compete in a number of international championships until 2017.
Savannah also represented Canada at the 2015 World Dodgeball Federation world titles in Las Vegas, where the team finished fourth.
She has since left the sport to pursue a career in acting, but the impression she made in Canadian sports remains profound.
2016: Hannah Mouncey
Mouncey has become a significant figure in her fight for greater gender inclusivity in sport.
As a handball player, she played 22 games with the Australian men’s team before transitioning. In 2016, Mouncey had her eyes on the Summer Olympics, but was blocked due to having not quite completed a full 12 months of hormone therapy, as mandated by the International Olympic Committee.
Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey (left) playing in the VFLW in 2018.Credit:Darrian Traynor
In 2018, Mouncey requested to nominate for the AFLW draft. This bid was declined by the AFL which cited the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act, which states that athletes can be discriminated against based on their sex or gender if they possess an advantage in strength, stamina or physique.
The 32-year-old launched legal action against the league in 2021, challenging its gender diversity policy. As it stands, the AFL requires that transgender athletes competing against cisgender women have testosterone levels at or below five nanomoles per litre for at least two years before competing and must undergo various physical tests.
Mouncey wished to play for Ainslie in AFL Canberra Women’s first grade competition, but was disappointed in the AFL’s lack of transparency and commitment to quickly and effectively resolve issues relating to gender diversity.
2017: Tifanny Abreu
On the volleyball court, this Brazilian player became the first openly transgender woman to receive permission from the International Volleyball Federation to compete in the women’s league, and plays in the Brazilian Women’s Volleyball Superliga.
The 38-year-old helped to bring more diversity not only to the court, but also to the political realm when in 2018 she ran as a candidate for the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party. Abreu gained so much traction for her physical skills and her social cause that she was named as one of 50 heroes for “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people” by Queerty, a popular LGBTQI magazine, in 2020.
2019: Jaiyah Saelua
Saelua is the first openly non-binary and transgender soccer player to compete in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. The 33 year-old identifies as fa’afafine, a third gender or non-binary role in Polynesian society. The American Samoan plays as a centre-back for the national team. Her passion for the sport began when she was a young child, making her debut as a 15-year-old during a World Cup qualifier in 2006. Saelua transitioned in 2018 and has since continued to play for her national team.
Her story will be brought to the silver screen once New Zealand director Taika Waititi – best known for films like Thor: Ragnarok – releases his film, Next Goal Wins, which is based on Saelua’s soccer team.
2019: CeCé Telfer
The first openly transgender woman to win a NCAA title in athletics, Telfer sprinted her way into the history books.
The Jamaican-American athlete took first place in the 400m hurdles in 2019, and left with high hopes that she would be able to qualify for the 2020 Olympic trials. She was initially accepted, but later removed after it was determined that she did not meet World Athletic conditions around certain women’s events.
August 2019: Cricket Australia reviews gender diversity policy
Cricket Australia released its policy in August 2019.
Transgender players would need to continue to satisfy those requirements for the entire period in which they compete in the sport’s elite female category.
2020: Laurel Hubbard
Hailing from New Zealand, Hubbard transitioned in 2012. The now 44-year-old weightlifter has climbed the ranks in the International Weightlifting Federation, reaching seventh in the women’s over-87 kilogram division. Wishing to add “Olympian” to her list of achievements, Hubbard expressed her desire to compete as the first openly transgender woman at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.Credit:Getty
Hubbard competed under intense global scrutiny and unfortunately did not advance at the Tokyo Games competition after failing her first three lifts, but her presence pulled transgender participation in sports to the fore.
“I’m not entirely unaware of the controversy which surrounds my participation at these Games,” Hubbard said after her competition.
“And as such, I would particularly like to thank the IOC, for I think really affirming its commitment to the principles of Olympism and establishing that sport is something for all people, that it is inclusive and is accessible.”
October 2020: The AFL reviews gender diversity policy
The AFL updated its gender diversity policy in October 2020, stating that “football is a game for all”. It ruled that transgender or non-binary footballers wishing to play in the AFLW, state leagues or elite pathways must:
November 2021: IOC releases framework on gender inclusion
After two years of consultation, the International Olympic Committee updated its gender policy, reducing the importance of set testosterone levels and ensuring women were not subjected to intrusive or unnecessary medical testing.
The IOC initially required testosterone levels remain under 10 nanomoles per litre and transgender women be on testosterone-suppressing medication for at least a year. The revised policy placed the responsibility of establishing guidelines on each individual sport. It also ruled that sporting bodies should not assume that transgender women have an inherent advantage over cisgender women.
Non-discrimination was at the policy’s core, stating that any exclusion based on gender identity, physical appearance or sex variations should not be condoned.
2021: Alexia Cerenys
After transitioning at the age of 25, French rugby player Alexia Cerenys was unsure if she would play rugby again.
Cerenys took four years off from the field as she underwent hormone therapy, but resumed playing on the French women’s team in 2016. Since then, the rugby world has been slowly adapting, with the French Rugby Federation allowing transgender women to compete in 2021. This was despite the World Rugby’s general negative stance on member countries allowing trans women to play.
December 2021: Basketball Australia applies transgender policy
The participation of transgender athletes at an elite and sub-elite level would be determined on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the IOC, FIBA, or other applicable governing body criteria.
June 2022: UCI hands down transgender policy
The International Cycling Union increased its transition period from 12 months to two years before an athlete can compete. It also lowered its testosterone threshold to 2.5 nanomoles per litre instead of five, insisting the move was based on science, not politics.
The UCI blocked transgender cyclist Emily Bridges from competing in the British championships earlier this year.Credit:Getty
2022: Emily Bridges
Bridges is a professional British cyclist who had her eyes on the British omnium championships in Derby in April of this year. The 21-year-old was initially eligible to ride, but threats of a boycott from her competitors caused the UCI to block her participation.
Bridges had set junior records and was a winner of the men’s points race at university level before transitioning. She won’t be eligible to compete until at least 2023 after the tightened UCI guidelines.
2022: Lia Thomas
Lia Thomas, a 22-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, is the most recent public figure to bear the brunt of the transgender debate, generating headlines across the globe.
Lia Thomas became a transgender champion in US college swimming.Credit:AP
The transgender swimmer competed in an annual college championship title (NCAA Division I) in the US, and won college gold. Parents of her fellow competitors wrote a letter appealing for her to be banned.
Putting the scrutiny already surrounding her aside, Thomas expressed her interest in representing the US at the 2024 Paris Olympics. FINA has since effectively banned transgender women from competing in professional aquatic events, blocking Thomas from competing at the Olympics or any other FINA-affiliated races, and instead creating an “open” category.
June 2022: FINA votes on transgender participation in elite swimming
FINA members adopted a new “gender inclusion policy” that only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. The organisation also proposed an “open competition category”.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article