Fina bars transgender swimmers from women's elite events if they went through male puberty
Fina, swimming's world governing body, has voted to stop transgender athletes from competing in women's elite races if they have gone through any part of the process of male puberty.
The new policy requires transgender competitors to have completed their transition by the age of 12 in order to be able to compete in women's competitions.
Fina will also aim to establish an 'open' category at competitions for swimmers whose gender identity is different than their birth sex.
The new policy, which was passed with 71% of the vote from 152 Fina members, was described as "only a first step towards full inclusion" for transgender athletes.
Good news, but we should never have been starting from here. An 'open' category is an easily defended position politically, but may still become a festering source of hostility towards rational behaviour and the real world.
Or maybe nobody will watch the new category anyway and that's the plan.
5 comments:
I don't much like the idea of transitioning before 12.
The "Open Category" would just be a freak-show, wouldn't it? It would probably get better viewer ratings because people would watch it trying to work out which way the competitors were transitioning. Groups of beered-up lads would laugh at the fairground bearded ladies, and try to get one of their number to admit to fancying a penile amputee in swimwear.
Sam - maybe transitioning is more of an evening activity. Yes it would be a freak-show and could get better ratings than the boring stuff. The Olympics circus could actually become a circus.
Open Events could add to pressure on children to have gender-affecting drugs or surgery at an age when no-one really knows how they'll feel when grown. It's obscene and immoral.
Ed - putting this kind of pressure on children certainly is obscene and immoral. It's a bleak comment on our times.
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