TransWomen Outsporting Biological Women
"It's a complex issue; it's an issue a lot of people care about. But I have a keen interest in ensuring that female tennis in Canada is not affected negatively by policies that are put in place.""I don't think there is anybody in the coaching community who would not agree with the statement that tennis should be as inclusive as possible. [However], We accepted a much more watered down, much weaker policy than the International Tennis Federation's policy, potentially at the expense of girls. I believe in policies that are built based on sports science.""In theory, right now anybody who is completely fully male in their teens in Ontario could compete against girls and could be winning titles based on this policy.""[The policy adopted by the world governing body of tennis is a more] science-based policy that seems to have checks and balances in place to ensure that girls in particular are not affected negatively by participation of fully hormonal males in the teenage years.""At that stage of development, a fully hormonal male who declares themselves a woman has a significant physiological advantage in terms of heart size, density of muscles and ability to perform. Once you get into the teenage years, girls are just not able to keep up.""There is a theoretical possibility that [biological girls] will be prevented from reaching high levels of girls' competition if there is an increasing number of hormonally stronger former males taking those spots from girls.""[Without] a medical aspect of certification [the new tennis policy could have a profound impact on girls' tennis]. We can't just be inclusive at the expense of girls."Junior competitive tennis coach Michael Paduch
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| “I don’t think there is anybody in the coaching community who would not agree with the statement that tennis should be as inclusive as possible.” Photo by Getty Images |
Male athletes who fail to distinguish themselves in sports of any kind -- swimming, weight-lifting, tennis among others -- whose professional and personal abilities stop short of winning trophies in male categories appear to be willing to present themselves as not really male at all, but female. And in the current social focus on 'inclusion', women's efforts in proving among other female contestants that there are champions among them, now face the very real prospect of never winning a championship again, for the presence of transwomen competing against biological women.
For some men, it seems biological gender at birth is disposable when their ambitions to 'win' sports categories competing against other men eludes them, but changing gender throws them a lifeline to the winning gate that is irresistible. For most people it may be difficult to imagine willingly jettisoning the gender you're born with for the potential of dashing women's hopes in the sports categories they compete in, yet the current social and sports milieus look favourably on transwomen competing against biological women.
A new policy in Ontario has now informed members of the Ontario Tennis Association of the implementation of their Transgender Athlete Participation Policy for all OTA-sanctioned events where players are given leave to take part in the gender category which they self-identify with "without restriction"; no requirement for gender-reassignment interventions such as hormone therapy, nor the disclosure of transgender identity or history to the OTA or any of its coaches, staff or officials.
Simple as that.
The simple declaration of a contestant in women's tennis categories self-identifying in the most casual statement of transfemale, now suffices for sports-competing biological women to put on a brave face and bust a professional gut to prove they're as good at their sport as any other woman -- unfortunately, not necessarily in the same category, however, as a biological male. Who now may officially walk away with the trophies that women competing against women formerly owned.
A male-to-female transgender player under the International Tennis Federation's policy whose wish it is to compete against biological females has an obligation to produce a written and signed declaration of female gender and is obligated under its rules to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the ITF that serum testosterone registers below a maximum limitedm on a continuous basis for at least 12 months. Must be "ready, willing and able to continue to keep it below that level for so long as she continues to compete in the female category of competition", (before returning to 'normal' for a male).
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| Renee Richards, left, with Martina Navratilova, after Navratilova was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on July 15, 2000. Photo by Elise Amendola/AP, File |
"The wingspan. The size of the heart. The size of the lungs. The speed. The fast twitch muscles. The testosterone.""There's just everything pointing to the fact that men are quicker, stronger, etc., than women -- especially after puberty."Chris Evert, ranked No.1 female tennis player in the world"[Allowing trans females who haven't undergone sex reassignment to compete in women's categories is] not fair [and] not right.""[The] best idea [would be an] open category [for trans athletes]."Martina Navratilova, Grand Slam winner
Labels: Biological Females, International Tennis Federation, Ontario Tennis Association, Transfemales, Women's Sports Categories
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, June 05, 2024
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