Can transgenders participate in international sporting events?

I have noticed in U.S. that transgenders (males) are allowed to participate in women's sporting events which I believe is wrong. Transgenders will win most sporting events such as women's weight lifting, boxing, MMA events, wrestling, golf, basketball, including all olympic events.

My question is .....Is it allowed on the international level?

a reply to: DeathSlayer

Short answer: Yes. The current guidelines from the International Olympic Committee were issued in 2016, with some recent changes after the controversy with Caster Semenya.

IOC rules transgender athletes can take part in Olympics without surgery

Female-to-male athletes can compete ‘without restriction’, while male-to-female athletes must undergo hormone therapy, according to new guidelines

The guidelines are designed as recommendations – not rules or regulations – for international sports federations and other bodies to follow and should apply for this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Under the previous IOC guidelines, approved in 2003, athletes who transitioned from male to female or vice versa were required to have reassignment surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible to compete. Now, surgery will no longer be required, with female-to-male transgender athletes eligible to take part in men’s competitions “without restriction”. Meanwhile, male-to-female transgender athletes will need to demonstrate that their testosterone level has been below a certain cutoff point for at least one year before their first competition.

Needless to say, not everyone is happy about it and there have been complaints/objections. But as it stands now, yes, transgender persons can compete according to "gender identity," as opposed to biological sex.

IOC Guidelines

a reply to: Boadicea

WOW

Thanks for the info.

Bye bye women's sporting events...

a reply to: DeathSlayer

It's not 100% given throughout the US they can compete with women. Internationally either. Depends on the rules of the governing boards.

Regardless, the market for women's sports pales in comparison to men and will only get worse allowing this to continue. Nobody wants to watch a male Gorilla with a wig beat up female Lemurs.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

Nobody wants to watch a male Gorilla with a wig beat up female Lemurs.

I don't know.
Make it a pay per view event and you might be surprised.

This is one area that having reflected, I actually think is correct.
Women or men should not be allowed to have their own professional sporting events a the exclusion of the opposite gender.
It's no different to a white only or black only event.

a reply to: Boadicea
I find that particularly interesting...

Female-to-male athletes can compete ‘without restriction’, while male-to-female athletes must undergo hormone therapy, according to new guidelines

Male-to-female athletes must undergo hormone therapy. Why? Considering Women and Men are supposedly equal in every regard /s

originally posted by: UKTruth
This is one area that having reflected, I actually think is correct.
Women or men should not be allowed to have their own professional sporting events a the exclusion of the opposite gender.
It's no different to a white only or black only event.

Which would mean that no woman would ever win a professional sporting event again. Doesn't seem that cool to me, but I guess you want women in the kitchen instead of a sports field?

Women sports took off when colleges started requiring equal representation. Some US schools, if a male sport was added, two women sports had to be added. I'm not against that at all but that is what happened in the era of modern sports.

Sports however are great builders of character, confidence, commradery, fairness. This new development is having the opposite effect on all those aspects. Especially fairness. Males on average have 30% more muscle. Transgenders have this distinct advantage in most cases.

a reply to: TheMadTitan

Considering Women and Men are supposedly equal in every regard /s

Well, according to some people maybe... but certainly not ALL people, and not even ALL feminists. Not to be too simplistic, but for the most part, women's rights advocate were demanding equal application of the law, not trying to say that men and women are exactly the same. Perhaps some were not as eloquent as others in explaining their goals, perhaps some were not able to grasp the difference between equal application of the law and the idea that men and women are exactly alike, and no doubt some simply twisted and corrupted their words and goals for political expediency.

However, regardless, whatever misunderstandings occurred -- whether willful or not -- doesn't mean that the rest of us have to play deaf, dumb and blind. We are all free to recognize and make pertinent distinctions.

I don't give two #s about sports. Who cares?

originally posted by: UKTruth
This is one area that having reflected, I actually think is correct.
Women or men should not be allowed to have their own professional sporting events a the exclusion of the opposite gender.

That is pretty much what Title IX was passed to prevent, except at the educational level, rather than professional.

At the time of passage (1972), it was men's sporting events being promoted, excluding women's sports. Title IX mandates that schools receiving federal funds and sponsoring men's sports must equally fund women's sports.

Because women cannot compete at a male level, due to men's disproportionately greater strength, endurance, etc., based on biological sex, women were virtually excluded from sports competitions and opportunities. It was necessary to establish women's sports competitions to level the playing field and ensure equal opportunities and equal application of the law.

In principle, it is no different than establishing different weight categories for wrestling and boxing, based on inherent biological and anatomical differences... not superficial skin pigmentation.

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
I don't give two #s about sports. Who cares?

Santa Claus said the same thing about the Tooth Fairy.

Can transgenders participate in international sporting events?

Sure!

The Special Olympics.

What percentage of the population to transgenders represent again??? Like .0000001% or something?

originally posted by: Sanitarium79

originally posted by: UKTruth
This is one area that having reflected, I actually think is correct.
Women or men should not be allowed to have their own professional sporting events a the exclusion of the opposite gender.
It's no different to a white only or black only event.

Which would mean that no woman would ever win a professional sporting event again. Doesn't seem that cool to me, but I guess you want women in the kitchen instead of a sports field?

So? There are billions of men who are not ever going to be strong enough to compete or win against top sportsmen either.

Look at it logically and these things are 100% truth:

1) some women are physically stronger than some men - it's simply not the case that all men are stronger than all women
2) some men are not able to compete and win against other men because they are not physically strong enough
3) #2 means that the door to making a living from professional sports for some (most) men is closed because they are not strong enough.

So tell me again why women get a special version of the sport, where men are not allowed, and can make millions despite not being able to compete with the top men? They are in exactly the same situation as many men.

They get special treatment because they don't have a penis. Why are weaker men who can't compete against stronger men be excluded from womens sports????

Now to be clear - my viewpoint is based on this notion of equality. You simply can't have it if special arrangements are made to give an advantage over other human beings.

originally posted by: Boadicea

originally posted by: UKTruth
This is one area that having reflected, I actually think is correct.
Women or men should not be allowed to have their own professional sporting events a the exclusion of the opposite gender.

That is pretty much what Title IX was passed to prevent, except at the educational level, rather than professional.

At the time of passage (1972), it was men's sporting events being promoted, excluding women's sports. Title IX mandates that schools receiving federal funds and sponsoring men's sports must equally fund women's sports.

Because women cannot compete at a male level, due to men's disproportionately greater strength, endurance, etc., based on biological sex, women were virtually excluded from sports competitions and opportunities. It was necessary to establish women's sports competitions to level the playing field and ensure equal opportunities and equal application of the law.

In principle, it is no different than establishing different weight categories for wrestling and boxing, based on inherent biological and anatomical differences... not superficial skin pigmentation.

So you would be supportive of men who are not physically strong being allowed to compete against women, correct?
If the sole reason is physical strenth, then why would a man who is not as strong as a top women athlete (or maybe about equal) not be allowed to compete against her???

Put even more clearly , why should a woman have the opportunity to make millions from sport, whilst a man who could never compete with the top men due to physical size/strength is not afforded the same opportunity?

The current situation is nothing like weight categories. A man of similar physical capabilty as a top woman athlete is not allowed to compete against her. The current set up is all to do with genitalia and as such is comparable to exclusion based on skin colour.

Why not just take away all the rules, every last one of them?

Conan the Steroidian can compete head to head against Urkel.

Chuck Norris can compete against Napoleon Dynamite and Deb in a tag team match.

Dogs can compete against cats.

Aliens can compete against Predators (oh wait...they already did that).

All at once, in a giant cage match. Fight to the death!

No rules, unlimited weapons (and ammo), no holds barred...just pure carnage!


ETA - The minute they let professional athletes compete in amateur sports all bets were off anyway. So, what the heck...just go for it!

I mean...maybe if they had their own division with all the other transgender athletes.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

As Boadicea explained - transsexual, yes. But transgender, no.

If you go through the whole sex change and become another gender then you can compete, given those IOC rules.

As a transgender, which is different from transsexual in that no operation took place and the person is still anatomically the gender they were born with, we allow some of that in the US, but mostly at school level - high school and college.

I haven't read of any professional sports in the US allowing transgender.

a reply to: UKTruth

So you would be supportive of men who are not physically strong being allowed to compete against women, correct?

Interesting... or something... I simply made a factual statement explaining Title IX and it's application in relation to your comments.

If the sole reason is physical strenth, then why would a man who is not as strong as a top women athlete (or maybe about equal) not be allowed to compete against her???

For starters, because with effort and practice, it is possible for any man to develop greater strength and endurance, thus (at least theoretically) allowing a man to compete on a level playing field with other like-bodied persons.

Put even more clearly, women cannot and will never ever achieve the same levels of physical prowesss as men no matter how much effort and practice they put in, because women's bodies and men's bodies are different, have different strengths and weaknesses, and different potentials.

Put even more clearly , why should a woman have the opportunity to make millions from sport, whilst a man who could never compete with the top men due to physical size/strength is not afforded the same opportunity?

Well, if that's a problem, then the solution is create further classifications within the men's divisions and leagues in order to level the playing field.... not let the losers bully women in their sports. Likewise, establishing transgender leagues and divisions is the solution for transgender persons. For the same reasons that the Special Olympics were established, in order to establish a level playing field for like-bodied people.

A precedent has been established with Title IX. There is absolutely no reason transgender persons could not lobby for the same rights, provisions and protections for transgender sports.

The current situation is nothing like weight categories. A man of similar physical capabilty as a top woman athlete is not allowed to compete against her.

Physical "capability" is relative.

The current set up is all to do with genetalia and as such is comparable to exclusion based on skin colour.

No, it's not at all about genitalia. Penises aren't magical things that give men superpowers. Men aren't lifting weights with their penises... nor are men winning races with that third leg... It's about many factors and differences throughout the male and female bodies. It's about how all those parts work together, not about individual bits and parts and their particular function within the whole.