The news over the past few days has been full of stories about trans women’s participation in sports.
This is mainly due to New Zealand weightlifter and trans woman Laurel Hubbard, who’s trying to qualify for this year’s Olympic Games.
We’ve been here before, such as when trans cyclist Rachel McKinnon (aka Veronica Ivy) won a world title on the track.
Laurel Hubbard
On both occasions, the usual suspects have come out of the woodwork with a flurry of transphobic comments in the mainstream media, and on social media.
I’d say the vast majority of comments are driven by transphobia. Look at the comments all over Twitter and people are calling Laurel a man. If you’re going down that road, you are failing to acknowledge that Laurel, by virtue of being a trans woman IS a woman.
Therefore, I don’t take any of their comments on board. I’m all for hearing different opinions – but not if they’re driven by transphobia or any other kind of bigotry.
But what about the minority of people commenting who are fine with Laurel’s female status – but concerned that she could have an advantage over cis women? I think we’ve got to take their views on board.
I don’t know all the science involved but the International Olympic Committee allows trans women to compete against cis women so long as their testosterone levels are below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least a year before their first competition.
Lowering T-levels seems fair enough, and something most trans women will desire anyway. But some people argue that years of testosterone running round their bodies before this will have had a permanent effect, giving trans women an advantage.
Veronica Ivy, formerly Rachel McKinnon
For instance, they may be taller, they may have larger lung capacity (and therefore can take on board more oxygen) and they may still be more muscular, despite lowering T-levels.
It’s a tricky one, this, and I’ve still not fully made up my mind about where I stand. On the one hand, I believe trans women are women – and so should be able to compete in women’s sports if they want to.
On the other hand, I don’t want them to have any advantage over cis women, which may have been caused by years of natural male testosterone.
Take Caitlyn Jenner, for example. Before transition, as Bruce Jenner, he won Olympic gold in the Decathlon. Caitlyn didn’t transition until many years later – a long time after retiring from sport.
But can you imagine the hoo-haa if, after winning gold in 1976, Bruce had transitioned then – and then started competing as a woman in, say 1978?
It’s like Usain Bolt coming out as transgender now (not that I’m suggesting he is trans) and then beginning to compete as a woman.
Would the fans still love Bolt just the same? Would the cis female sprinters be OK with it? Probably not.
Testosterone: Isn’t it sad that a hormone trans women don’t even want can continue to cause problems even when it’s all but gone?
I’ve competed in road cycling events as cyclist registered as female many times – after initially registering as male. But it doesn’t matter – in the cycling I do, there are no awards for finishing first, second or third. All the organisers care about is whether people finish or not.
If I started getting really good and entering actual races, things could get trickier. It’s not something I plan to do.
As I say, I’m not really comfortable with trans women competing against cis women in top-level sports if they do have an advantage from (historical) testosterone.
But then you could argue that the really good cis athletes also have a physical advantage simply because of the way they were born. Some people were born with bodies perfect for running, cycling, swimming or whatever else.
So should they, too, to be penalised for having their own advantage?!
Tricky one, isn’t it?! One idea I’ve heard suggested is that trans people should have their own sports events. I guess you could view it like the Paralympics – and other para events.
Oscar Pistorius competing in the 2012 Olympics
But then trans people aren’t competing with a “disability” – and even Paralympians can sometimes be so good they can break through on to the main Olympics stage, such as when Oscar Pistorius took part in the 2012 event.
Some people back then feared he would have a competitive advantages because his “blades” could allow him to run faster than regular legs. It didn’t happen in the end.
There’s a fine balancing act to be had here – to allow trans women to compete in women’s sports but somehow to negate any advantage from testosterone. I don’t know what the answer is.
But I hope it gets sorted one way or another before too much longer because the transphobes are using this situation as yet another excuse to try to destroy trans women under the faux guise of “legitimately held concerns”.
Laurel, Veronica and other trans athletes should be seen as trailblazers, working hard to win and to change people’s views. The fact that they come under so much criticism from transphobes just goes to show society has a long way to go.
- If you enjoy the blog, please do me a favour and click on one or two of the adverts – this gives me a few pennies, which add up over the year to pay for the hosting. Thank you. Andie xxx
You may try to look for an op ed in today’s (3/4//20) New York Daily News by Allanna Smith. She is a HS athlete who is a top of the field runner. Her father, Lee Smith was a Hall of Fame Pitcher. She talks about the lack of fairness that she and other young women experience trying to compete with trans girls. Ms. Smith and some of her friends have been assailed as bigots, transphobes, etc. She makes some very salient points and presents a very cogent position.
Interesting post as usual Andie. Thank You.
I honestly believe that this is a small view of a much larger picture. In all sports there are constant doping scandals, extra red cells being added to blood, and on and on. Remember Martina Navratilova? There were frequent calls for her to be put into the Mens category as she was felt to have an unfair advantage. However when researched properly it turned out that she could be beaten by the top 200 male players, and would rarely beat the top 100 IIRC the numbers right.
Similarly at school in the 70s as well as the rural kids there were a lot of Londoners. The Head of Sports pushed football for the boys and badminton for the girls. Very few liked either. New Head appointed saw rugby introduced so a greater spread of physique could join in, the ‘girl’s’ activities were comprehensively broadened to include judo and the like.
Up to date the same suitability issue keeps reappearing. Possibly the answer is to follow the London and other marathon races. Everybody competes simultaneously in a defined classification. First 2nd and 3rd in each category are recognized and awarded. So running would involve mixed groups divided by height, muscle mass, artificial limbs, whatever. Swimming by the best criteria there. In other words people should not be judged by what they are but by what they do. Only then will sport become the unifying force it could be.
I’m a competitive runner… definitely not elite standard .. transgender and have yet to start my hormone treatment.
Men typically have 10 times more testosterone than women but a high free testosterone level doesn’t makes you stronger or faster, you need the right combination of receptors to convert it into more powerful forms. Whether male or female, if you have that combination of high free testosterone and the right receptors you have the potential to achieve elite performance. The hormone regime for transgender women **blocks** testosterone production to the levels typically found in women and boost oestrogen levels using a variety of hormones. The IOC also sets T limits for transgender women and have just halved them again.
There are two types of muscle; fast twitch which give explosive power and strength and slow twitch which is used for endurance. Within 3–12 months of using testosterone blockers in hormone therapy, most fast twitch muscles will have atrophied, anecdotally about 10–15 lbs of fast twitch muscle loss is not uncommon certainly after 2 years the muscle composition will be exactly the same as cis women. There is talk about ‘muscle memory’ but if you don’t have the muscles that you used to have ….
Transgender women see a drop in red blood count because of the fall in T, so no matter how big your heart or lungs the blood is carrying less oxygen to support less muscles, the ability to supply oxygen to the muscles is determined by a measure called VO2 Max, men typically have a 20% greater VO2 Max than women; at elite level and depending on the event, eg the marathon, that difference can be less than 10%. The drop in T also depresses the metabolism so that the body’s efficiency in converting glycogen and carbs into energy is reduced.
Muscle loss in the foot means a smaller platform for the foot to pronate through and push off from, ie less power transfer through the foot whether running, rowing or cycling.
With the reduction in muscles in the back and glutes it is not uncommon for the spine to adopt an S curve and for a rotation in the angle of the pelvis as the muscles adopt a more typical female pattern, this affects the running gait; transgender women will have to relearn running. Studies show that elite men and women marathon runners have a similar VO2 max but men have a greater running economy because their gait is more efficient. This is because the pelvis and hips of women are angled differently to accommodate childbirth which in turn gives a less efficient running gait and as stated before it is likely that a transgender woman will encounter the same disadvantage.
Men typically use fast twitch muscles first using their glycogen reserves to fuel them then slow twitch muscles take over. Women it seems can move between using fast twitch and slow twitch more efficiently, rebuild glycogen and continue that cycle and it is believed that gives women an advantage over longer distances. From what I understand transgender women don’t have that ability to cycle and with reduced fast twitch muscles would be at a disadvantage to both cis men and cis women over long distances.
Now here’s a fact, women are really challenging men in long distance running and indeed have beaten men on several high profile races, Jasmine Paris won, not first female -won! – the 268 mile Spine race, smashed the record by 12 hours! whilst expressing milk for her new born. The first man that came in was second to her and was 10 miles behind her.
Two important things:
1. To most transgender women, testosterone is a poison. It has ruined their bodies and given features that they do not want. We don’t want big muscly shoulders, arms and backs, we don’t want thick skin with big pores, we don’t want horrible hairy arms and legs, we don’t want thinning receding hair, we don’t want nasty smelly sweat.
2. To most transgender women their existing genitalia is a constant reminder of the cruel trick that nature has played upon them and for many the testicles are the ‘evil twins’. For those that have full surgery or an orchidectomy; the only testosterone made by the body will be from the adrenal glands just as with cis women. BUT … cis women also produce testosterone from from the adrenal gland and from their ovaries and peripheral tissue (about half) so that if a transgender woman has had an orchidectomy/full surgery her testosterone levels will be BELOW that of most cis women because testosterone is only being produced from the adrenal glands.
Summary – loss of significant amounts of fast twitch muscle, musculoskeletal changes, reduction in red blood count and reduction in VO2 Max and if orchidectomy/full surgery undertaken T levels below that of cis women. Oh yes, bone density and strength decreases.
So significant changes – still not enough to eradicate an unfair advantage?
I think we need to look at two levels- elite and the rest.
The elite – Elite sports are not fair, let’s get that clear. Is it fair that countries with budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars should have to compete against GB, US, Australian, Chinese, Russian teams with multi million dollar budgets? How dare a podium placing elite female athlete say they compete on a level playing field when they are being paid huge amounts to race and have access to trainers, nutritionists, psychologists, physiotherapists and cutting edge equipment unless all competitors have the same.
From what I understand abuse of T in male athletes creates a reaction detectable in urine samples because to create an advantage in bodies awash with T we are talking about huge doses. Abuse by women does not create that same reaction and more sophisticated tests are required, moreover because of the lower T levels in women they only need a small dose to give a significant advantage relative to other women; surprise surprise, many female elite athletes have high testosterone levels but just within limits.
Naturally produced testosterone gives female athletes “significant” competitive edge (https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/naturally-produced-testosterone-gives-female-athletes-significant-competitive-edge/)
The IOC have halved the permitted T levels for transgender women, will elite women then be required to reduce their T levels? Discuss. Oh no, we don’t need to because that was shown to be a breach of their human rights.
As there have been transgender women for the best part of 50–60 years how many have achieved international success in sports? There must be some, disproportionately so?
When a transgender cyclist won the World Cycling Championship bronze medalist Jen Wagner-Assali branded the race “unfair” even though she’d beaten McKinnon in 10 of 12 previous events. The defending champion Carvella Fader, had beaten McKinnon several times, was faster yet pulled out of the race saying it was unfair, in all probability Fader would have won convincingly.
The rest of us – Let’s face it, 99.999% of us are not even going to get to elite level, it’s the local 5k and 10k races etc where transgender women and cis women will compete.
I have come out to friends as a transgender woman, I have yet to start HRT, to my mind it is obviously unfair for me to race in the female category. I’ve decided that I will do what many transgender women do and not compete in the female category until I’ve been on HRT for a year, most of the changes should have manifested by then and again depending on my T level – pretty much in line with the Olympics. I earnestly want transgender women to be included and for me inclusivity is a two way street, I want to be regarded as a woman and to compete with other women but only when my musculoskeletal and biochemistry is comparable. I have read of transgender women who just love to race and because they don’t want any upset even if they are post op, even if their T levels allow them to compete in the Olympics, if they podium will step aside and let the next placed woman take the position, sporting? Fair? Or unfair on the transgender woman?
Summary.. at elite levels I think there is so much cheating going on because of the high money stakes that this is something for the scientists to get a good grip on not everyone with a vested interest, a quarter of the facts and a full opinion spouting off.
I believe that most transgender women will (should) certainly be concentrating on their transition in the first twelve months and that racing would take a back seat. The body and chemistry changes after twelve months should mitigate any advantage the transgender woman may have had and she should then be allowed to resume racing, certainly if she has had an orchidectomy/full surgery she will have been on HRT for 12 months.
What a wonderful and enlightening post – I’ve learned so much, Joni. Thank you! xxx