Content area
Full Text
Correspondence to Associate Professor Lynley C Anderson, Bioethics Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand; [email protected]
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines1 that allow male-to-female transgender athletes to compete in the women’s category at the elite level has raised significant debate.2–7 These guidelines specify that transwomen athletes who have demonstrated total testosterone levels below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months can compete in the women’s division. The previous requirement (in the IOC’s 2004 guidelines) for gender affirmation surgery has been removed.
A recent New Zealand (NZ) case has polarised opinion about the inclusion of transwomen in women’s sport. Laurel Hubbard, a 39-year-old transwoman, competed in the 90 kg+ female category as a weightlifter in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2017, Hubbard won silver medals at the weightlifting world championships—the first NZ weightlifter to win a medal at any world championships. Hubbard previously competed as an adult male and was a junior 105 kg+ NZ record holder. Responses to Hubbard’s successes as a female competitor have ranged from support to dismay. Supporters claim she has every right to compete with the women after passing ‘straightforward’ hormone regulations, and that ‘anyone who says otherwise is prejudiced or jealous’.8 This fits with an inclusion-first policy that argues ‘there is a fundamental human right for everyone to be recognised in the gender in which they identify’.7 Conversely, one of Hubbard’s competitors said, “we all deserve to be on an even playing field. If (the playing field) is not even, why are we doing the sport?".8 Those who object to the IOC guidelines1 argue they are unfair, specifically that transwomen who now meet those criteria have an advantage not available to cis-women, thus creating an uneven playing field8 9. These conflicting views highlight the tension between the principles of inclusion and fairness and raise the question as to whether or how transwomen should be included in elite women’s sport.10
To determine whether the IOC1 guidelines adequately address the fairness principle requires, among other things, a scientific understanding of whether transwomen have a performance advantage.
Here we provide a thorough examination of the science to show that elite male athletes have a performance advantage over their female counterparts due...