Equality in Sports: A Transgender Perspective Discussion 2022

Running head: CIVIL PROCEDURE ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS LAW
EQUALITY IN SPORTS: A TRANSGENDER PERSPECTIVE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Introduction
Sport is a social forum in which gender and sexuality are conducted. Patriarchal sport
routinely excludes women and actively promotes discrimination by fostering hegemonic
masculinity. Nevertheless, many gay men, lesbians and transgendered people still play important
roles as sportsmen and activists despite the inhospitably sporting climate. Recently, there has
been observed a change in thought about how people see their lives as living in what which is
known as the ‘post-modern situation’. Many of the formerly prevalent basic sociological theories
or ‘powerful narratives’ as they often are called, were questioned because they are too static or
discriminatory and are simply no longer important in a fast-changing and difficult environment1.
These were often labelled as ‘deconstructed’ because of their validity, which benefits some
individuals at the detriment of others. Sexuality and sex are the two divisions of society that are
constructed on a hierarchical binary relationship where one pair is favoured, promoted, and
respected over the other: men over women and heterosexuality over homosexuality in particular.
In reality, sexuality and sex are far more complex social structures. They also play a significant
part in social regulation and control procedures critically. This paper mainly focuses on the
discussion of the conceptual analysis of matters related to sexual identity in a competitive sport
which emphasizes the origins of transgender policy issues. While discussing the same it also
sheds light on the rights of equality related to transgender athletes.
Discussion
Over the last 45 years, ‘gender’ has been known to be distinct from ‘sex’ throughout
relation to the distinction between the body and nature and between being men and women
1 Bandy, Susan J. "Gender and sports studies: an historical perspective." (2014) Movement & Sport Sciences-
Science & Motricité 86: 15-27.

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(‘sex’) and the cultural and social roles imposed on bodies; masculinity and femininity
(‘gender’). However, the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ were initially perceived as exist in one body
and gender was not a biological category but a sociological one. The notion that there was a ‘sex’
between men and women in a single body was eventually replaced by the idea that two ‘sexes’
were based on physical dissimilarities among reproductive organs that in the eighteenth century
formed the basis of sexual distinction2. The research on intersex individuals in the 1950s helped
to develop a difference between sex and gender which later gave rise to transsexual
individualities. However, it has been argued by the psychoanalyst Stoller that an individual’s
biological sex cannot establish his/her ‘true gender identity’, a sense of being a man or a woman.
Engdahl had been pointed out that the principle of trans-sexuality is the distinction between
gender identity and sex. Therefore, the distinction between sex and gender allowed enabled
transgender and trans-sexuality as categories. Most of the feminist commentators raised the issue
of the difference between gender, women and feminist. Essential post-modern devices, for
instance, Deconstruction, Postmodernism, Post-Structuralism, and Queer Studies have been the
primary cause of a world-class perceptive movement3.
For many years, gender has been considered to be a matter which occurs occasionally
during women’s sporting events. The verification of gender for competitive purposes has
undergone major developments as attempts have been made to enact initiatives to ensure equal
competition between women athletes. The first system which was introduced in mid-sixties for
the international competition involved very blunt and probably humiliating physical tests. As the
procedure for evaluating sex chromatin by oral smear was easily applied, this technique was
used. However, because the method involved numerous doubts, a significant number of experts
2 Stoller, Robert J. Sex and gender: The development of masculinity and femininity. (Routledge, 2020).
3 Engdahl, Ulrica. "Wrong body." (2014) Transgender Studies Quarterly 1.1-2: 267-269.

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on the field were clamouring for the interruption of the process, resulting in its abandonment first
by the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF) in 1991 and then by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2000 in
Sydney. In short, the question of gender verification has always included a distinctive kind of
controversy, which includes metaphysics of doubts in the fundamental understanding of the
problem4.
Sport is a cultural and social phenomenon that plays a significant role in the social
construction of men and women. Sport can also be considered as an object that is still present at
a certain moment in a person’s conscious or unconscious mind. Sport is historically connected to
the protection of the logocentric or patriarchal world order. Females who are active in sports and
females who may be viewed as masculine in certain cultures are considered to be as unfitted.
Females and males are more likely to participate in various kinds of physical activity and have
diverse attitudes towards sport. The events that take place predominantly in women, such as
rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming and events for the men only, such as boxing,
wrestling, and weightlifting reflect the persistence of the prejudices in athletics within each
gender. Sociocultural structures of a given culture can be generally attributed to the reasons for
the discrimination5.
Sports for women usually compete for the beauty of movement while sports for men
compete for power, speed, strength and risk. An issue of their sexuality is a social cost which
sometimes opposes athletes trying to play a sport which is non-traditional for their sex. If a
woman is bisexual or heterosexual, sport and culture, in general, continue to discourage girls and
4 Chen, Victoria. "Ethical Issues Concerning Transgender Athletes." Penn Bioethics Journal 14.1 (2018).
5 Horlacher, Stefan. "Transgender and intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic perspectives." Transgender and
intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, (New York, 2016). 1-27.

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women from undertaking typically ‘masculine’ practices, such as contact and team sports, for
fear that they are branded homosexuals. In conventional masculine sports, female athletes
question the societal norm of women’s proper behaviour, therefore the logic is that something
has to be wrong. Concentrating on sexual identity disproportionately excludes women prospects
in sport based on their personal preferences. The reflected argument underlines the ability of
patriarchy to weave a complicated network of power relations even in sports because the
parameters are primarily from the side of ‘cultural construction’.
The change in social attitudes and laws that concern sexually has resulted in a growing
number of transgendered or transsexual sport athlete cases. A transsexual or transgender means
an adult who has been born into one sex and now identifies with, and lives with, different sex
and comprises a person who has undergone a process of change of sex. The trend is unique in the
field of sports, as society is thriving in the world in terms of this form of modern consciousness.
Such cases are impressive and challenge the socio-cultural assumptions that generate a new
chord in constructing symphony. Men typically have the intrinsic efficiency of androgen
exposures comparing to women, due to their higher average height, muscle mass and strength.
Thus, it is appropriate that men and women are competing in different categories in sports.
Now the question arises as to whether transsexuals will compete with others on an equal
basis. The objective of an analysis of this question is to increase accountability, transparency and
justice by conducting research and deliberations. On 27th May 2004 the International Olympic
Committee Executive Committee agreed to allow transsexuals to participate in the Olympic
Games and opened for transsexual athletes to participate at the 2008 Beijing Olympics which
was considered to be the most controversial decision concerning gender. To compete in sports
events transsexuals need to comply with three equitable requirements, which includes:

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a) Completion of cosmetic improvements to the anatomy, including external adjustments in
genitalia and gonadectomy;
b) Legal approval of the assigned sex by the appropriate official authorities; and
c) Adequate and controllable hormone therapy tailored to the assigned sex to reduce sexual
advancement.
Generally, as soon as two years after gonadectomy, eligibility will start. The mentioned
guidelines have carried about a radical transformation in the understanding of the problem which
is almost contrary to the ‘way of the world’. Nevertheless, new deliberative boundaries have
been developed to establish analytical and qualitative comprehension of the issue being
considered. After the revolution which took place in 2004, many transgender or transsexual
player reveled their actual identity concerning sex6.
Tennis player Renee Richards was an early high-profile transgender athlete. Richards was
already an entertaining tennis player on the men's circuit and in 1975 began to compete in
women’s tournaments a year later. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the United
States Tennis Association (USTA) extracted their support when she accepted a warm-up
tournament invitation for the US Open. The USTA and WTA developed the Barr body test to
determine the sex chromosomes of an individual which was refused by Richards and as a result,
she was banned from the US Open. In 1977 she brought a lawsuit alleging that her civil rights
had been violated and that the policy was discriminatory. However, the Supreme Court of New
York ruled in her favour7.
6 Sartore-Baldwin, Melanie. "Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender athletes in sport." (2012) Journal for the Study
of Sports and Athletes in Education 6.1: 141-152.
7 ANON

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An American transgender woman from Connecticut, Andraya Yearwood was born in
2002 who in the early April 2017, Yearwood began participating in the team of high school girls
and won the girls 100m and 200m sprints for first place. According to her, it is the right of a
person to live as they genuinely feel8.
The first transgender woman to compete in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League is
Jessica Platt of the Toronto Furies. She highlighted the word ‘choice’ by saying that it is very
difficult for a human being to live his/her life being a male or female when he or she believes
himself or herself to be a female or male. Identity crisis is a very big issue for transgender.
Jessica Platt met a transgender person in 2018 who is also an athlete. According to her, it is very
unfortunate that transgender athletes often do not get proper respect and treatment which they
deserve. Jessica faced criticizes the ground that it is very unfair when she competes with other
women because originally she was a male. However, Jessica states that the process of
transformation from a male to a female is very difficult. Due to the sex-change operation, she
lost weight, speed and strength. However, she worked hard to regain her speed and strength by
spending 6 days a week at the gym9.
Ms. Tiffany Abreu is one of the players of a top-class Brazilian volleyball club and the
leading volleyball female player in the world. She is a transgender who has made her a
polarizing figure in the sport. She is an inspiration for those who are of the view that
homosexuality is a disease which can be cured. Everybody knows that Volleyball is the second
most popular sport in Brazil after football. Ms. Tiffany Abreu is the first volleyball transgender
player to lead in Brazil10. According to Tiffany, the transition from a male to a female does not
8 Fader
9 Bennett, and Bennett
10 "Transgender Volleyball Star In Brazil Eyes Olympics And Stirs Debate"

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work as an added advantage for the athletes because the entire process of transition is a very
risky and painful and also reduces the body weight and strength of a person which also supports
the view of Jessica Platt.
Recently, the scenario regarding the participation of transgender people in sport has been
changed to a great extent. Still, numerous transgender athletes fight for their rights to represent
their countries in international rights11. Most of the Constitution guarantees equality before the
law and equal protection of laws and transgender people tries to use this constitutional provision
in the field of sports as well.
The International Olympic Committee permits transsexual men and women to participate
without having to undergo sex reassignment in January 2016. Athletes who have changed from
women to men may increase their testosterone levels, but they should be checked and provide a
report to prevent charges of using a substance that improves their performance12.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the scientific, socio-
cultural and moral criticisms discussed above indicate that gender research is insufficient.
Because of the inclusion of transgender people in elite sports, the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) took an unavoidably subjective decision despite that the transsexual strategy of
the IOC is incomplete according to many scholars. More precisely, the IOC has not shown
enough of the comparative advantages of transsexual athletes over traditionally gender-based
athletes. The IOC is responsible for raising diverse doubts concerning transsexual athletics. At
11 Whittle, Stephen. Respect and equality: Transsexual and transgender rights. (Routledge-Cavendish, 2012).
12 Teetzel, Sarah. "Athletes’ perceptions of transgender eligibility policies applied in high-performance sport in
Canada." Transgender Athletes in Competitive Sport. (Routledge, 2017). 78-89.

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the time of gender research, it was appropriate to revise and condemn the strategy of IOS as it
only included testing the gender of women.

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Bibliography
Books & Journals
Bandy, Susan J. "Gender and sports studies: an historical perspective." (2014) Movement &
Sport Sciences-Science & Motricité 86: 15-27.
Chen, Victoria. "Ethical Issues Concerning Transgender Athletes." Penn Bioethics Journal 14.1
(2018).
Engdahl, Ulrica. "Wrong body." (2014) Transgender Studies Quarterly 1.1-2: 267-269.
Horlacher, Stefan. "Transgender and intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic
perspectives." Transgender and intersex: Theoretical, practical, and artistic perspectives.
Palgrave Macmillan, (New York, 2016). 1-27.
Sartore-Baldwin, Melanie. "Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender athletes in sport." (2012)
Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Education 6.1: 141-152.
Stoller, Robert J. Sex and gender: The development of masculinity and femininity. (Routledge,
2020).
Teetzel, Sarah. "Athletes’ perceptions of transgender eligibility policies applied in high-
performance sport in Canada." Transgender Athletes in Competitive Sport. (Routledge, 2017).
78-89.
Whittle, Stephen. Respect and equality: Transsexual and transgender rights. (Routledge-
Cavendish, 2012).

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Website
"Transgender Volleyball Star In Brazil Eyes Olympics And Stirs Debate". Nytimes.Com, 2020,
http://nytimes.com/2018/03/17/world/americas/brazil-transgender-volleyball-tifanny-abreu.html.
Bennett, Donnovan, and Donnovan Bennett. "Hockey Is For Everyone: The Jessica Platt Story -
Sportsnet.Ca". Sportsnet.Ca, 2020, https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/hockey-everyone-
jessica-platt-story/.
Fader, Mirin. "Andraya Yearwood Knows She Has The Right To Compete". Bleacher Report,
2020, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2810857-andraya-yearwood-knows-she-has-the-right-
to-compete.
Si.Com, 2020, https://www.si.com/tennis/2019/06/28/renee-richards-gender-identity-politics-
transgender-where-are-they-now.