Over the past few years there have been a great deal of controversy over transgender athletes being allowed to participate in sporting events.
On July 23, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials ruled that transgender women will not be allowed to participate in women’s sporting events.
Committee officials told the sporting federations that they had “an obligation to comply with an executive order” issued by the White House.
The ruling follows a similar move made by the NCAA earlier this year.
The USOPC used the “Athlete Safety Policy” to justify their ruling. References were also made to the executive order signed in February that included the uneducated statement “keeping men out of women’s sports.” The order also made threats to “rescind all funds from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women’s sports.”
U.S. Olympic officials told the national governing bodies of the various sports that they would need to follow suit.
USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes issues a letter saying, “as a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations. Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”
The National Women’s Law Center has condemned the move saying, “by giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes.”
The USOPC oversees some 50 national governing bodies. Some of those organizations follow the rules of the World Athletics bodies which to do comply with the US Olympic Committee.
Swimming has been consulting with the Committee to determine what changes need to be made.
The USA Fencing committee has changed the policy to allow only athletes who were born a female compete in the women’s events but the men’s events will be open to anyone not qualify to compete in the women’s events.
Republicans see banning transgender females as “athletic fairness”; while critics call the move “discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes.”
The NCAA only allows women who were born female.
On the international level, eligibility for females is a key issue for the IOC and new president Kirsty Coventry. Currently the IOC allows each sporting federation to make their own rules on the matter.
The 2028 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles.
It should be noted that anyone wishing to go through the sex change procedures must first go through months of counseling; which is followed by months of hormone therapy (men are given estrogen shots long before any surgery is considered).