OPINION: Are chromosome tests enough to ensure fairness in women’s sport?
· Citizen
Perhaps the most contentious issue in sport right now is the drive to find a balance between fairness in terms of sex and gender.
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The decision announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week that individuals with differences of sexual development (DSD) and transgender athletes will no longer be able to compete in women’s events has reignited a debate that has raged for decades.
I feel this issue needs to be split into two categories because we can’t simply put everyone into one box. Life is far more complicated than that.
Transgender athletes
Let’s start with the easier problem. Transgender women.
For me, this has never even been an issue that needs to be questioned. It’s really simple.
The divisions in sport have nothing to do with gender identity. They are based on biological sex.
With all due respect to people who identify as trans women, if you were born male and went through male puberty, you have experienced physiological advantages that can’t be overturned by hormone treatment, and you can’t compete against women.
As much as I support trans people and their right to their self identity, trans women should not compete against biological females. This shouldn’t even be a debate.
But this is where it gets murky.
DSD athletes
The IOC has also banned DSD athletes from competing in women’s sport, and this issue is not as straightforward as some people might think.
Women who are hyperandrogenic have been through male puberty, but they are not males. Intersex people are something inbetween.
It would be so simple if we could just place everyone into boxes and label people, but the world we live in operates on a spectrum.
People with XY chromosomes have literally given birth to children. If you don’t believe me, google ‘Swyer Syndrome’.
I’m not saying DSD athletes should be cleared to compete against women. I just don’t think a cheek swab to test for chromosomes is the best way to determine who has an unfair biological advantage.
The IOC has taken a stance but that doesn’t mean this contentious issue is over.
The battle to ensure there is fairness in women’s sport is making progress, but it hasn’t been resolved.