Should Transgender Athletes Be Allowed to Compete in Women's Sports?

Should Transgender Athletes Be Allowed to Compete in Women's Sports?
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc71306335 \h 1Literature Review PAGEREF _Toc71306336 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc71306337 \h 2Biological Aspects of Sports PAGEREF _Toc71306338 \h 2Unfair Competitive Advantage and Testorene Suppression PAGEREF _Toc71306339 \h 3Issue of Inclusivity and Diversity PAGEREF _Toc71306340 \h 4Discussion and conclusion PAGEREF _Toc71306341 \h 5References PAGEREF _Toc71306342 \h 6
Introduction
Sports are influenced mainly by an overarching range of physiological factors, including metabolic factors, cardiorespiratory capacity, muscle power, and anthropometric characteristics. All these factors differ between biologically males and females, raising whether or not transgender women should participate in competitive sports with other women. The issue of unequal competitive advantage has continued to take shape in the past decade, with many women citing transgender women's participation in sports as inappropriate. According to Southern Utah University sprinter Linnea Saltz, allowing transgender women to participate equally with other women is not only wrong but against women's rights. She says that “allowing transgender to participate takes away women opportunities which women have had to fight for them for many years” (Romboy, 2021). Linnea Saltza and other opponents and proponents of transgender women's participation in competitive sports contribute to the more extensive debate existing today. Overall, sports are one of the plays where endurance, might, and strength matter, and as a result, there is a massive need to segregate sports into male and female categories and weight and age categories. For many years, sports organizers have opted to promote fairness in sports by ensuring women and men participate in respective categories. For many years, sports segregation, which has been the norm, is now under scrutiny for its failure to include transgender persons transitioning from their biological sex to new and socially constructed sexual orientations. Many transgender women who transition from their former biological sexes to new sexes expect to participate in their unknown male or female categories, triggering a recent debate on fairness and safety in as much as women's competition is concerned. Over the past decade, amendments have been made, primarily through the International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy to allow transgender women to participate in women’s competitive sport. According to the IOC policy statement, “it is necessary to accord all transgender athletes the opportunity to participate in all sporting activities.” Also, IOC policies established initially states that “overriding sporting objectives is a major factor in as far as fair competition is concerned.” However, IOC justifies its stand by arguing that, while transgender persons can participate in sports somewhat, “participation restrictions are important to the extent deemed fair and proportionate in attainment of set objectives” (Sailors, 2020). IOC’s proposed restrictions include the demand that transgender women must maintain a testorene level below 10nmol/L at least 12 months b...