Outsports has obtained a copy of the transgender guidelines the International Olympic Committee is expected to adopt before the Summer Olympics later this year. The guidelines stem from an unpublicized "Consensus Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism" the IOC held last November. The guidelines have not yet been distributed by the IOC, but Outsports received the new policy via a trusted source.
The guidelines leave no restriction for a trans man, like triathlete Chris Mosier, to compete against men. Mosier's participation in the World Duathlon Championships, for which he has qualified, has been in doubt.
Joanna Harper, chief medical physicist, radiation oncology, Providence Portland Medical Center, was one of the people at that meeting. She also happens to be trans, and she said her voice in the room was important in determining these guidelines.
"The new IOC transgender guidelines fix almost all of the deficiencies with the old rules," Harper said via email late Thursday night. "Hopefully, organizations such as the ITA will quickly adapt to the new IOC guidelines and all of the outdated trans policies will get replaced soon."
In addition to opening the door wide for trans men, the new policy removes the need for women to undergo gender-reassignment surgery to compete.
"The waiting period for trans women goes from two years after surgery to one year after the start of HRT," Harper said. "This matches up with the NCAA rules and is as good as anything. The waiting period was perhaps the most contentious item among our group and one year is a reasonable compromise."
While no publicly out trans athlete has competed in the Olympics, Mosier has earned a spot in the World Duathlon Championships later this year; His participation could have been held up by existing IOC policy that mandated gender-reassignment surgery. Other trans athletes, like Keelin Godsey, have come within inches of qualifying for the Olympics and other World Championships.
The complete findings of the meeting attendees, and their recommendation for the new IOC policy, looks like this:
1) Transgender guidelines
A. Since the 2003 Stockholm Consensus on Sex Reassignment in Sports, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of autonomy of gender identity in society, as reflected in the laws of many jurisdictions worldwide.
B. There are also, however, jurisdictions where autonomy of gender identity is not recognised in law at all.
C. It is necessary to ensure insofar as possible that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition.
D. The overriding sporting objective is and remains the guarantee of fair competition. Restrictions on participation are appropriate to the extent that they are necessary and proportionate to the achievement of that objective.
E. To require surgical anatomical changes as a pre-condition to participation is not necessary to preserve fair competition and may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights.
F. Nothing in these guidelines is intended to undermine in any way the requirement to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code and the WADA International Standards.
G. These guidelines are a living document and will be subject to review in light of any scientific or medical developments.
In this spirit, the IOC Consensus Meeting agreed the following guidelines to be taken into account by sports organisations when determining eligibility to compete in male and female competition:
1. Those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction.
2. Those who transition from male to female are eligible to compete in the female category under the following conditions:
2.1. The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.
2.2. The athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to her first competition (with the requirement for any longer period to be based on a confidential case-by-case evaluation, considering whether or not 12 months is a sufficient length of time to minimize any advantage in women's competition).
2.3. The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.
2.4. Compliance with these conditions may be monitored by testing. In the event of non-compliance, the athlete's eligibility for female competition will be suspended for 12 months.
2) Hyperandrogenism in female athletes
In response to the interim award dated 24 July 2015 in Chand v AFI and IAAF CAS 2014/A/3759, the IOC Consensus Meeting recommended:
· Rules should be in place for the protection of women in sport and the promotion of the principles of fair competition.
· The IAAF, with support from other International Federations, National Olympic Committees and other sports organisations, is encouraged to revert to CAS with arguments and evidence to support the reinstatement of its hyperandrogenism rules.
· To avoid discrimination, if not eligible for female competition the athlete should be eligible to compete in male competition.
Comments
Great Scoop!
Like the one year waiting period in that it’s a compromise that works for everyone. Also glad they had transfolk on the board to review policy.
By Kirielson on 01.21.16 10:47pm
Was there not a Canadian cycling trans woman who was in the London Olympics?
By canadalaw on 01.22.16 4:18am
Not that we know of
Who was it?
By Cyd Zeigler on 01.22.16 7:42am
Canuck cyclist
The reader is probably referring to Kristen Worley who attempted, unsuccessfully, to qualify for the Canadian cycling team at the Bejing Olympics in 2008.
By JoannaMarie on 01.22.16 10:01am
My goodness
Why don’t they just make it illegal to have a womb & natural estrogen in the Olympics instead of these half measures? Hell by 2024, there’ll probably be no genetic xx athletes at the games. Eventually there’ll be no separate women’s and men’s athletics at all, it’ll just be the strongest competing against the strongest, us womb owners replaced by trans women.
By Dani0414 on 01.22.16 10:23pm
My my
2024. Really. Probably take at least another 8 years longer. Silly girl.
By eviestar on 01.24.16 3:17am
Nah
By 2030,the Olympics will be renamed the Translympics and there’ll be a much smaller concession called the Womb Owners games on public television every 6 six years.
By Dani0414 on 01.24.16 9:23pm
What about women who have had hysterectomies?
Women who have had oopherectomies?
Women who never had those organs in the first place, or whose organs are nonfunctional?
Transmen (who usually are XX)?
Intersex people?
AIS and CAIS women?
XXY people?
People with one of the dozens of other alternate chromosomal makeups?
Transwomen who transition early and never experience a puberty with testosterone?
Not that that last one matters, since it’s well-known that transwomen perform athletically within the same range as ciswomen.
You throw an awful lot of people under the bus in order to "get" transwomen.
By CeeKayKimber on 01.24.16 12:17pm
What About them?
What about women who have had hysterectomies? What about them? Didn’t they own wombs at one point?
Women who have had oopherectomies? Same. Not all oophrectomies involve removal of the womb anyway.
Women who never had those organs in the first place, or whose organs are nonfunctional? Are the xx women? Then what’s the problem?
Transmen (who usually are XX)? What are the astronomical odds that XX transmen will ever be able to compete in a significant amount of sports with XY men? Close to zero, hence the "no restrictions" suggestion, because even the IOC sees the advantages of women or trans people taking T, not being enough to pose any threat to male athletes.
Intersex people? Have they been raised male? Have they taken testosterone to bring out male traits? Or have they been taking estrogen and raised a female? Again a birth defect, not a transgender person.
AIS and CAIS women? Are they producing testosterone like a man? No. Well then what’s your point? A birth defect is not a transgender trait.
XXY people? Well only males get Klinefelter syndrome, so what’s your point? So because they produce less testosterone, they should also be lumped in with the women?
People with one of the dozens of other alternate chromosomal makeups? And again, anomalies, not transgender. Individual chromosome defects are not what I addressed, I specifically addressed MtF transgender versus genetic women.
Transwomen who transition early and never experience a puberty with testosterone? Maybe an exception to an advantage, maybe not.
Not that that last one matters, since it’s well-known that transwomen perform athletically within the same range as ciswomen. So, Mike Tyson would be on par with any other female boxer after 1 year of HRT? Shaq? Janae Kroc, the now trans champion weightlifter would have her tremendous bulk, huge bones, larger heart, greater amount of type 2 muscles fibers, bigger hands, broader shoulders, etc. completely wiped out with HRT after 1 year? That’s some powerful shit then!
You throw an awful lot of people under the bus in order to "get" transwomen. I’m trying to "get" transwomen? I’m trying not to be gotten by transwomen is more like it. Genetic women need to move over and pretend that some fully grown person that was completely biologically male last year, especially if already an athlete, is going to be on par with genetic women athlete 1 year later on HRT, just to be PC and accepting? Who’s that fair to? Not us, that’s for damn sure. Hell, it took us long enough to get where we are and still we are underpaid, underfunded, under-promoted, etc. and now you tell us we also need to give up a few slots to women that started with an advantage out the gate in order to make them feel better about themselves? Nah, not feeling that and I don’t envy the first or the 20th tanswoman to stand on a podium collecting Gold medal over other women. We might not feel so sisterly towards our trans women after that.
By Dani0414 on 01.24.16 10:07pm
Dear Lord
Please. Please don’t be this dumb.
By forrealthoe on 01.25.16 1:58am
Please don’t be this weak and blindly follow what you are being fed. "Oh, the IOC said it, got a couple of doctors to sign off, trans is popular now, so it must be o.k." Even though they’ve already stated that the decision was in part based of the political climate and attitudes. Yet get a doctor who says the absolute opposite, it’s unfair competition, and he’s a quack and a transphobe. So why don’t you get smarter when taking in what any professional, for profit entity tells you. It’s not as if international sporting bodies, including the IOC havet been hit with or turned a blind eye to multiple scandals, bribes, payoff, etc in the past….oh, wait. Never mind.
By Dani0414 on 02.08.16 9:13am
You and Germaine Greer have a lot in common. Transphobia!
By synesthete on 01.26.16 11:59am
Said the Misogynist applauding natal women slowly being eliminated from sport.
By Dani0414 on 02.08.16 8:42am
racer
I was actually thinking of Michelle Dumaresq but she was actually earlier than 2012.
By canadalaw on 01.23.16 5:24am
Dumaresq
Michele Dumeresq was truly a pioneering trans athlete. She competed in downhill mountain biking which is not an Olympic sport.
By JoannaMarie on 01.23.16 6:38am
Dumaresq
Downhill mountain biking, which isn’t an Olympic sport anyway, is NOT a sport/event in which the hormonal level of someone competing as female makes a bit of difference. The same could not BE said for events like shot put, weight lifting – or even tennis or basketball. Trans people competing as female should have to show roughly the same level of testosterone in their blood that genetic females show. This is NOT a terribly difficult thing to check, and keeps the competition fair for genetic females.
By jockmama on 01.23.16 1:56pm
Waiting period
I think a one-year waiting period from the beginning of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is too short. The OLD guideline of THREE years makes things a lot more fair. After only one year, a MTF body is still producing male hormones. Not as much, but even SOME are an unfair advantage. By the time THREE years of HRT have passed, approximately 60-75% of the person’s MALE muscle mass is gone – which just happens to also be the threshold most surgeons require for reassignment surgery. After three years of HRT, the shape of the person’s genitalia don’t make any difference, anyway. But ONE year is MUCH too short. The body is just STARTING to change.
By jockmama on 01.23.16 1:51pm
Nope
You don’t actually know what you’re talking about. You can nuke testosterone levels to an unmeasurable amount in less than a month with the correct anti-androgen and dosage.
By teg4n_ on 01.24.16 11:40am
Nope: I know what I am talking about. You don't.
Nope: I know what I am talking about. You don’t. You seem to think that a MAN who is an ATHLETE will be on even playing field with a woman just because he has "nuked his testosterone levels" for some period of time? The 3 year rule was not simply a measure of testosterone levels? Hell, if thats all it was, any professional body builder could tweek down in 2 months time and qualify. They will STILL be in their fully pumped masculine form. 3 years was the time not only for hormone levels, but for the body’s nervous system, muscular system, and psychological status to react and even out to PROLONGED female hormone levels….you know, like their natural female opponents have had SINCE BIRTH. So again, I say, you don’t know what you are talking about.
By marklang500 on 06.09.16 1:40pm
I’m not sure where you get the idea that muscle mass governs when a person has surgery. The general rule has been that you’ve lived as a male or female, depending on whether your birth gender was female or male, for a period of time; normally two years but that has changed to 1 year now. Provided you have the required assessments from medical practioners then you can have surgery. How much muscle you have doesn’t matter. How would they know after all?
Most doctors don’t check anything beyond BMI, which can impact your eligibility for surgery. My own BMI was slightly above the requirement in the UK but that was because I’d just finished training for a marathon which meant I’d built up a lot of muscle. In the UK the testosterone range in female is 0.35 – 2.60 nmol/l. Two years after transition my T range was 1.0nmol/l. That was a year prior to surgery and the loss of T generating organs in my body. Right now I suspect I’m at the bottom end of the range and so there are "womb owning" women out there that have the capability for building muscle mass far better than I have.
From experience I also know that there are women out there that can kick my butt when it comes to race day. I don’t race because I want to win, primarily because the chances of that are slim. I race because I enjoy taking part and like to challenge myself.
A few years ago I learned an invaluable lesson while racing. I was taking part in a 5K run and as we were approaching the finish eased up because if I hadn’t it would have meant overtaking someone that had worked equally as hard as me but who I was finishing slightly better than. By easing up I allowed someone behind me to overtake me at the finish. Last year I did the same race but with the aim of trying to beat my previous time, something I missed out on by a good few minutes. In the last half mile I apologised to a woman I was alongside and put my foot down to try and reach the finish. As I got to the turn into the finish I passed a guy that was in front of me. Racing to the finish he put his foot down and caught up with me on the line (not that he admitted that but stated he’d beat me).
By all means ask that there is a requirement on trans people that they meet certain criteria but if that means hormone levels and muscle mass then apply it fairly. Do away with men and women racing seperately and base races on hormone levels and muscle mass. That way who wins will come down to training and determination and not some arbitrary biological standard.
By MiraDGlass on 01.24.16 2:01pm