Trans female athletes to be allowed to compete in women’s events in the Olympics

Trans female athletes to be allowed to compete in women’s events in the Olympics
Transgender women athletes have distinct advantage over biological women. (Image: YouTube screen grab)

The rule is actually broader than specified in the headline, applying as well to trans male athletes seeking to compete in men’s events. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that the number of trans athletes born as females who choose to compete with biologically determined males will be at or near zero.

ESPN reports that the International Olympic Committee has updated its policy on the participation of transgender athletes in events to make the Olympics more inclusive. The specific rule changes, which are based on a 2015 “Consensus Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism,” have not yet been formally announced, though the upshot is that trans athletes will no longer have to undergo sex reassignment surgery as a precondition to competing under the gender of their choice.

The change would bring the Olympics in line with the NCAA by “allowing both male-to-female and female-to-male transgender athletes to compete without having had surgery.”

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As I wrote last October, the issue of allowing biological males who identify as women to compete with biologically determined women is “another one of those pesky conundrums for liberals,” who must decide “whose rights trump whose when a dispute arises between two so-called ‘protected classes’?” Do they side with women, who according to the Left are still societal underdogs? Or do they side with transgenders, who have their own cross to bear in a hostile right-of-center society? Never mind that transgender female athletes have a distinct competitive edge over genuine women. Hence my prediction at the outset.

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles

Ben Bowles is a freelance writer and regular contributor to "Liberty Unyielding."

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