The International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban female transgender athletes from competing will have negative impacts for all women and reverberate harm across all levels of sport, a University of Guelph professor says.
“This policy is unnecessary,” says Dr. Charles D. T. Macaulay, professor in the Department of Management at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. “I have yet to come across any study that has systematically demonstrated that trans women have some sort of physical, athletic or competitive advantage in sports.
“The results of trans women athletes competing at elite levels have not demonstrated they are dominating,” he adds.
Macaulay’s research focuses on the factors that influence decision making within organizations, particularly how athletes navigate governance and activism, and how marginalized populations experience the sporting world.
A decision like this made at the highest level of athletics is significant, he says.
International competition sets the tone for the entire world of athletics. National Sport Organizations (NSOs) look to the IOC and other sport governing bodies to inform their own policies.
“The IOC changing its policy to only allow women who fit within a narrow definition will rebound throughout all levels of women’s athletics, from youth to international competition,” Macaulay says.
The IOC’s new policy states eligibility for any female category will be determined on the basis of a one-time SRY gene screening. However, Macaulay points out, not all males have the SRY gene and not all females are without it. Furthermore, it remains separate from one’s psychological and social understanding of their self- and gender expression.
Sport a fundamental human right: UN
This policy will have detrimental effects on all women, he says.
“There are athletes who will be excluded from competition because they will not fit within the definition of ‘female’ as presented in this policy,” Macaulay says, including people born with differences in sex development (DSD).
DSD occurs in approximately one in 4,500 births, many unknowingly, Macaulay, says. Often referred to as intersex, differences in sex development are congenital conditions where chromosomal, gonadal or anatomical sex characteristics do not align with typical definitions for male or female.
This decision will lead to the exclusion of girls and women in sports for naturally occurring differences in their sex development, of being wrongfully accused, accosted and potentially physically harmed due to the paranoia these kinds of policies create, he explains.
It also further marginalizes trans women, eliminating inclusive environments in women’s sports that have made them feel more comfortable in their bodies. “Recognizing and embracing that diversity across all women has profound health and social benefits,” Macaulay says.
Such a prominent and culturally important organization like the IOC adopting this policy reflects the extreme conservative ideology rising in Europe and North America and is in direct opposition to the UN Human Rights Council’s promotion of sport as a fundamental right.
“This negates the genealogical, biological and anatomical diversity that exists across humanity,” Macaulay says. “The reason this policy only applies to women’s sports is because many people believe that all men are physically stronger than all women and that no transgender man would possess a physical or athletic threat to cisgender men, especially elite athletic men.
“Being an accomplished athlete is more than just physical strength,” he continues. “In many sports, skill is a significant factor in success, and skill is something developed through effective training. It is not a biological given.”
Macaulay is available for interviews.
Contact:
Dr. Charles D. T. Macaulay
macaulac@uoguelph.ca