Transgender athletes

News from a couple of weeks ago was that it's likely that New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympic Games.

Good on her, and awesome effort!

This morning, I read a very nicely written article by Chris Surprenant on the subject of including transgender athletes in sports.

The issue, as Surprenant says, is:

On one side are transgender athletes who want to compete in the gender division with which they identify. On the other are political activists and athletes – especially biologically female athletes – who believe that allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s divisions is inherently unfair.

(The news article above mentions one of Hubbard's competitors questioning the fairness, though sadly the objectors quoted fail to express the issue without resorting to transphobia.)

As the title of Surprenant's article puts it, it's about striking a balance between fairness in competition and the rights of transgender athletes.  Meaningful participation is essential for all involved.

There's no easy answer.

But I like the suggested solution that Surprenant offers.  Eliminate men's divisions and replace them with open divisions:

Since there is no typical transgender athlete, broad rules for transgender athletes don’t seem appropriate.

Instead, language similar to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s disability accommodation policy could be used for transgender athletes: “The decision as to the appropriate accommodation must be based on the particular facts of each case.”

“Men’s” divisions could be eliminated and replaced with “open” divisions. Any athlete could be allowed to compete in that division.

Then, transgender athletes could be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Based on their athletic ability, a tournament organizer could determine which division is most fair for them to compete in, “women’s” or “open.”

For trans women athletes, at issue is their athletic ability, not their womanhood. If a tournament organizer determines that a trans woman athlete is too good to compete against other women because of her biological advantage, requiring her to compete in an “open” division does not undermine her humanity.

Instead, this acknowledges – and takes seriously – that she identifies as a woman, but that respect for the principles of fair competition requires that she not be allowed to compete in the women’s division.

I know almost nothing about Hubbard's situation.  Yes, she absolutely deserves to be competing, as much as she likes and as much as she is able.  Would it make more sense for her to compete in an open division or a women's division?  I have no idea.  Following this solution, that would depend entirely on her weightlifting ability when compared with other weightlifters at each tournament she enters.  Does she have a biological advantage?  I have no idea, and I don't have the expertise to judge either way.  That would be for sports scientists with weightlifting knowledge to decide on.  It's possible that at local/regional competitions it would be better for her to compete in an open division, while at the highest level she might compete in the women's division.