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The first-ever study of transgender athletes showed that the hormone therapy that facilitates male-to-female transition does more than just suppress testosterone. Published last year in the
Journal of Sporting Cultures and Identities, the study showed that as testosterone levels approach female norms, trans women experience a decrease in muscle mass, bone density and other physical characteristics.
“Together these changes lead to a loss of speed, strength and endurance — all key components of athleticism,” the study’s author,
Joanna Harper, wrote in The Washington Post. Harper, who is chief medical physicist at Oregon’s Providence Portland Medical Center, a trans athlete and a participant in the IOC meeting that overhauled the trans guidelines, explained to me that “it’s not the anatomy that matters, it’s the hormones.” After a year of hormone therapy, for example, female trans distance runners completely lose their speed advantage over cisgender women.
Related:
Do transgender athletes have an edge? I sure don’t.
Okay, so science is science, but are the new rules fair? The IOC, no pushover when it comes to hormones and meds, said it wanted to make sure “that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition” and that the overriding objective is “the guarantee of fair competition.” But what constitutes fair in sport?
“Every athlete, whether cisgender or transgender, has advantages and disadvantages,” said Cyd Zeigler, author of
“Fair Play: How LGBT Athletes Are Claiming Their Rightful Place in Sports” and a co-founder of
Outsports. Chris Mosier, the first out trans man to compete on the men’s U.S. national team at the International Triathlon Union Duathlon World Championship in June, expanded on that: “People come in all shapes and sizes,” he said. “We don’t disqualify Michael Phelps for having super-long arms; that’s just a competitive advantage he has in his sport. We don’t regulate height in the WNBA or NBA; being tall is just an advantage for a center. For as long as sports have been around, there have been people who have had advantages over others. A universal level playing field does not exist.”
