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:
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.
'Sarkar reserves some of her snarkiest comments for left-liberals seduced by identity politics.'
'Mired in fratricidal identitarianism, left-liberals have lost the argument to the hard right'.
Speechless.
The brass neck. theguardian.com/books/2025/feb…
But does @AyoCaesar include herself in this?
Ofc not.
'Ash Sarkar blames the rightwing press for this shift. Thanks to tabloid agents provocateurs and their political creatures in Westminster, she says, the lower orders have abandoned class war for the culture wars.'
@AyoCaesar Apparently:
'More and more of them spend their weekends not on the barricades but behind computer screens, fuming over small boats and gender ideology.'
New...
'World Athletics today launched a new consultation process on its eligibility conditions for the Female Category and the current DSD Regulations and Transgender Regulations.'
Good.
Present regulations permit XY DSD athletes in female sport with T suppression to <2.5nmols/L
WA Working Group submitted the following five recommendations to Council in December 2024 which were approved and are now set for consultation:
'World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “World Athletics is a leader in preserving the female category in sport and one of the first international sports federations to establish clear policies on female eligibility in elite sport.'
I keep seeing claims there are only a few males with trans identities in female sport. This is false.
The US-based Women’s Sport Policy Working Group (WSPWG) recorded 578+ victories of males with trans identities in women’s sport in 9 months in 2024. 1/ womenssportspolicy.org/253-male-victo…
The citizen journalist website @shewon_org documented & verified that by January 2025 over 750 female athletes in more than 500 competitions have lost more than 1000 medals in 40 different sports to males with transgender identities in women’s sport. 2/ shewon.org
Whilst the citizen journalist website @hecheateddotorg recorded over 3500 ‘unfair victories’ and 5900 top three finishes in 11 200 events by males with transgender identities in women’s sport. 3/ hecheated.org/results
EO:
'Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have ... used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women'. whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
'Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system.'
'Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.'
I've submitted my response to @EHRC Consultation on the new Code of Practice & fed back only on Chapter 13 given I have had children home from university for the last 3 weeks. Feedback must be completed by 5pm this afternoon. Please submit if you can: equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equal…
This paper aims to address Canadian Human Rights Law in relation to:
'Policies that Restrict the Participation of Transgender Women in Women's Sport Categories'.
Let's critique. 1/ cjhr.ca/bringing-canad…
1. The title:
This betrays the framing & focus from the get-go.
That is, to include males with transgender identities in female sport categories designed to exclude male advantage. 2/
2. The goal:
'to re-centre the Canadian discourse within a human rights legal lens'.
This is important.
Canada should be compliant with Canadian and international UN human rights treaties. 3/