Reinstate fair play!
Tell the IOC to drop their transgender policy
Tell the IOC to drop their transgender policy
Photo: Morning Consult illustration by Samantha Elbouez
The Olympic Games begin in Tokyo on 23 July, but instead of being an event that celebrates the very best in sporting achievement, this year's games will be overshadowed by cheating and scandal.
Thanks to a 2015 rule change, male-born athletes are now allowed to compete alongside women in female categories, provided their testosterone level is kept below 10 nanomoles per litre for at least 12 months.
To put this in context, this is over 5 times the level found in biological women (who have naturally occurring testosterone levels of 0.3 to 2.4 nanomoles per litre) and is scientific proof of the unfair physical advantage male athletes enjoy over women. These rules have the same effect as allowing a select group to circumvent doping regulations.
It’s not just testosterone levels that give males a physical advantage over women; as everyone knows, on average, men are bigger and stronger than women, with superior height and bone density. In addition, during puberty, men gain much more muscle and strength than women, and several studies demonstrate that they retain this physical advantage even after extensive periods of testosterone suppression.
This is why men and women have always been divided into separate categories for sporting events.
Transgender weightlifter, Laurel Hubbard has caused outrage following his selection as a member of the New Zealand team. Hubbard is 43 and only ‘transitioned’ to being a woman at the age of 35 following some minor success within the men’s category of the sport.
Hubbard’s selection has meant that a biological woman, half his age, has missed a life-changing opportunity to compete at her first Olympics. Another female weightlifter has described the situation as a ‘bad joke’. A study by scientists for World Rugby has reported a gap of 30% between men and women for weightlifting ability.
Hubbard may be the first transgender woman to compete at the Olympics, but he will likely be joined by another 5 male athletes masquerading as biological women. Another 3 men may also be allowed to compete as women in the Paralympic Games.
Sign the petition demanding that the International Olympic Committee immediately changes their rules and ensures Fair Play for women at the Tokyo Games.
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Don't erase women's sports
To: the International Olympic Committee
The selection of Laurel Hubbard, a biological male, for the New Zealand women’s weightlifting team makes a mockery of the principles of fair play that the Olympic Games is supposed to stand for and brings the event into disrepute.
It is clear that Hubbard and other male competitors who look set to be competing in female categories this summer enjoy a significant physical advantage over biological women.
The current IOC rules that allow for men with testosterone levels over 5 times that of women to compete in female categories are akin to allowing a select group of people to be able to take performance-enhancing drugs.
The current IOC limit of 10 nanomoles of testosterone per litre of serum for transgender athletes, is double the 5 nanomoles allowed by World Athletics, but even 5ml is over double the levels found in biological women. In the case of weightlifting, a study by World Rugby has reported a gap of 30% between men and women when it comes to weightlifting ability.
Allowing transgender women to compete in female categories puts biological women at an unfair disadvantage and undermines principles of equality and fairness. It deprives biological women of the opportunity to compete on a level playing field and runs the risk of decimating women’s sports. Allowing biological men to compete against biological women does not increase inclusiveness and tolerance but promotes divisiveness and hostility as the general public can see that this is plainly not fair.
Men will always enjoy a physical advantage over women, being stronger, taller and having a higher bone density, irrespective of whatever measures they may take to decrease testosterone levels. Women should not be deprived of the life-changing opportunity to compete at the highest level in sport, to appease the demands of LGBT ideology.
I urge you to reinstate confidence in the Olympic Games and change these unfair rules prior to the opening ceremony in Tokyo.
Don't erase women's sports
To: the International Olympic Committee
The selection of Laurel Hubbard, a biological male, for the New Zealand women’s weightlifting team makes a mockery of the principles of fair play that the Olympic Games is supposed to stand for and brings the event into disrepute.
It is clear that Hubbard and other male competitors who look set to be competing in female categories this summer enjoy a significant physical advantage over biological women.
The current IOC rules that allow for men with testosterone levels over 5 times that of women to compete in female categories are akin to allowing a select group of people to be able to take performance-enhancing drugs.
The current IOC limit of 10 nanomoles of testosterone per litre of serum for transgender athletes, is double the 5 nanomoles allowed by World Athletics, but even 5ml is over double the levels found in biological women. In the case of weightlifting, a study by World Rugby has reported a gap of 30% between men and women when it comes to weightlifting ability.
Allowing transgender women to compete in female categories puts biological women at an unfair disadvantage and undermines principles of equality and fairness. It deprives biological women of the opportunity to compete on a level playing field and runs the risk of decimating women’s sports. Allowing biological men to compete against biological women does not increase inclusiveness and tolerance but promotes divisiveness and hostility as the general public can see that this is plainly not fair.
Men will always enjoy a physical advantage over women, being stronger, taller and having a higher bone density, irrespective of whatever measures they may take to decrease testosterone levels. Women should not be deprived of the life-changing opportunity to compete at the highest level in sport, to appease the demands of LGBT ideology.
I urge you to reinstate confidence in the Olympic Games and change these unfair rules prior to the opening ceremony in Tokyo.
