Cathy Devine Profile picture
Jun 24, 2021 18 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Delighted that my research article 'Female Olympians’ voices: Female sports categories and International Olympic Committee Transgender guidelines' is just published in the International Review for the Sociology of Sport:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…
I would like to thank nineteen female Olympic athletes for taking the time to generously contribute
to this research since without them this work would not have been possible.
'These Olympians agreed with the IOC’s overarching fairness principle but, in common with some ex-elite transwomen athletes, did not think evidence regarding
male advantage mitigation via testosterone suppression supports IOC 2015 transgender
guidelines.'
'Further, they did not accept fairness for females should be subordinated to inclusion for transwomen, and consequently regarded IOC guidelines as unfit for purpose.'
'Justice entails the recognition of females as equal moral agents, also and at the same time with distinctly
female sexed bodies, in order that the fastest highest and strongest females are celebrated at elite and Olympic levels.'
In the words of two athletes:

‘Our human rights to equal opportunities (are) not being protected’

‘Why don’t women matter?’
@iocmedia
The main findings include (1) these athletes thought both female and transgender athletes should be fairly included in elite sport, (2) unanimous agreement there is not enough scientific evidence to show no competitive advantage for transwomen...
...(3) unanimous agreement that the IOC should revisit the rules and scientific evidence for transgender inclusion in female categories, and (4) the majority of athletes felt that they could not ask questions or discuss this issue without being accused of transphobia.
Full text link here: researchgate.net/publication/35…
Covered in the Times here:

thetimes.co.uk/article/female…
Re the importance of collecting sex disaggregated data in Scotland and the impact of self-identification of gender on single sex sport categories:

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More from @cathydevine56

Nov 1
Becky's had a look at the UN Report on Violence against Women & Girls in Sport.
Based on submissions from around the globe.
She doesn't like it.
She's into women's footy.
You'd think she'd welcome it.
But she's a fan of including transwomen in female sport.
Let's take a look. 1/
Becky doesn't like women collecting data about the numbers of girls and women who have lost positions, places, podiums, prize money to transwomen. So she has a go at the work they are doing to fill the vacuum left by journalists & academics who are missing in action. 2/
She doesn't like/misunderstands reference to 'the replacement of the female sports category with a mixed sex category'.
So she thinks it's a misquote to report numbers of female athletes defeated by transwomen.
But the female category becomes mixed sex if males are allowed in. 3/
Read 22 tweets
Oct 25
Let's critique.
Lots of good stuff but I will unpack this claim:
'blanket prohibitions ... of all female transgender persons, and intrusive practices for women athletes with sex variations, are against current standards of human rights'. 1/
documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/… x.com/UN_SPExperts/s…
1. There are no blanket prohibitions of female transgender persons in international sport.
All trans persons are entitled to compete in their sex categories.
Females with trans IDs (if not supplementing with testosterone, in female sport) males with trans IDs in male sport. 2/
A note re language. The claim uses 'female transgender persons' to mean male persons with trans identities. This misuse of the language of biological sex is deliberate in order to position some males as females. Human right treaties must be & are based on clear terminology. 3/
Read 28 tweets
Oct 24
This event will 'highlight the importance of diversity & inclusion in sport for LGBTI persons, in particular the inclusion of trans, gender-diverse, and intersex individuals.'
Fine.
But there is no human right for males to play/compete in female sport. 1/
ilga.org/news/u-lgbti-c…
There should ofc be a diversity of female people in female sport: black & brown females, young & old females, rich & poor females, females from the global south as well as the global north, lesbian & straight females, females with disabilities as well as able bodied females. 2/
However, given the female sport category is the fundamental inclusion measure for female people & upholds their equal human rights to recognition, inherent dignity, equality & non-discrimination, it cannot include male people with trans identities or male DSDs. 3/
Read 15 tweets
Oct 5
To be crystal clear.
There is no human right for males to play in female sport.
This is an asymmetric rights claim benefitting males with trans identities & athletes with disorders of male sexual development.
Female people have human rights too. 1/
gate.ngo/knowledge-port…
'Equal inclusion of all in sports continues to be undermined by the rise of movements that oppose the universality of human rights'.
No.
We support universality of human rights.
This must, & does, include recognition of female people with female bodies & their human rights. 2/
'We reject the co-option of human rights mechanisms'.
The audacity.
Please stop attempting to reinterpret the international human rights framework which explicitly references equal human rights with no discrimination on the basis of sex. 3/
Read 23 tweets
Sep 12
Thank you @BBCWomansHour & @SarahOwen_ welcome to this position.
As @UKLabour member & feminist academic who researches sex, gender identity & sport, pls ensure it is crystal clear that EA S195 Sport, means males with trans IDs can be excluded from female sport at all levels. 1/
The reason we are still at the stage of asking 'what is a woman' is that there are 3 answers:
1. An adult human female
2. An adult human female plus some adult human males who have changed legal sex
3. Anyone who identifies as a woman
This is why the EA needs clarification. 2/
It is not because 'we have boiled down people's fears or concerns...to body parts'.
It's because the answer (1, 2 or 3) matters in law & policy.
In sport policy the answer must be 1. Whereas so many sports are operating policies based on 3.
This is indirect sex discrimination. 3/
Read 24 tweets
Aug 7
This is what 'policing women's bodies' looks like.
Sex is determined at conception. Not by conforming to sex stereotypes.
Female athletes are female regardless of how they look.
Athletes with disorders of male sexual development are male.
Regardless of what their passport says. Image
Those supporting no sex screening for female sport are not arguing against 'policing women's bodies' they are arguing against policing male bodies in order to exclude male bodies from female sport.
This is a continuity with androcentric sport:
1. Males are valued more highly than females.
2. Even in female sport.
3. Females must always confirm to sex stereotypes.
4. If not they are males.
5. Given sex stereotypes determine sex, males can be females.
All 21C patriarchy.
Read 11 tweets

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