World Athletics (WA) – the global governing body for track and field – announced new rules that affect transgender women athletes, banning some from competing in female track and field events. The regulations come into force on March 31.
For the WA, the prohibition is for athletes who have gone through what it called as “male puberty”, disallowing participation in female world rankings competitions. As per WA, the exclusion will only apply to “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty.”
“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” WA president Sebastian Coe justified the organizations anti-transgender stance in a statement.
Coe added that WA will be “guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years,” adding that “as more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.”
Coe failed to mention that mainstream science does not support WA’s position. For instance, a 2017 report that appeared in the journal Sports Medicine found “no direct or consistent research” on trans people having an athletic advantage over their cisgender peers. Instead, bans only add to the discrimination that transgender people face.
Coe added that WA is “not saying no forever”, and has set up a working group to evaluate the issue of transgender inclusion over the next 12 months. For now, though, the discriminatory policy stays.
