Thread by @KirstiMiller30

Worley’s case opens the courts to athletes human rights cases. The IOC understands their blanket testosterone policies needlessly harmed XY female athletes and they no longer can do so.

Any sports federation that chooses to ignore the ’No- harm’ clause of the IOC framework leaves the door open for other athletes to stake their claim before a court of law, there is a precedent.

sportsintegrityinitiative.com/worleys-case-o…

History of Worley’s case. Worley is an athlete who was an XY male and transitioned to become an XY female over 20 years ago. She describes herself as not transgender, but as a transitioned woman as she has undergone surgical procedures to become female.

In 2009, Worley applied for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to use synthetic testosterone, as her body could no longer produce the amount her physiology required. This is because in XY males, testosterone is primarily produced in the testicles, and

Worley had undergone a dual-gonadectomy. “My physiology is very different from somebody who is transgender, because my body doesn’t generate hormones”, she explains.

Her TUE took ten months to grant, and the levels of synthetic testosterone it allowed her to take were not enough to support even basic levels of health, let alone the levels required by an elite athlete.

Worley’s TUE permitted her testosterone levels of 0.5nmol/L, below the normal testosterone range for non-athletic XX females of 0.52nmol/L to 5.6nmol/L. At 9.6nmol/L, Worley goes into spontaneous menopause and complete androgen deprivation.

It is important to point out that testosterone is not exclusively a male hormone. It is produced by both XY males and XX females in the testicles and ovaries (and also in the adrenal glands),

however males need to produce it in higher quantities for it to be taken up by their XY androgen receptors. XX androgen receptors are known to be highly sensitive to testosterone, requiring much less testosterone to equate the same level of health.

However, both male and female elite athletes also produce testosterone in higher quantities than the ‘normal’ population. There is also a significant amount of overlap between testosterone levels in male and female elite athletes.

An XY male who transitions to XY female has had their major source of endogenous testosterone (the testicles) taken away, so needs to take synthetic testosterone in order to maintain basic health.

Worley was forced to withdraw from cycling in 2009. The levels of testosterone mandated by her TUE induced – and kept her in – a severe post-menopausal state, and affected her ability to train and maintain any form of adequate health to compete in elite cycling.

This case recognises that my HR’s have been violated by IOC policy that was implemented through the Olympic and sporting movement”, explains Worley.

“It also recognises that they understand that there is no science and research behind these policies that are being used to determine athletes’ gender.”

Worley’s case has opened the floodgates for other athletes, as sport has now accepted that some cases can be heard outside of its closed system.

sportsintegrityinitiative.com/worleys-case-o…