This week, I interviewed several female athletes on National Girls and Women’s in Sports Day to discuss the issue of biological males competing in women’s sports for the sake of “inclusivity.” As we’ve seen, biological males who believe they are “transgender” have robbed female athletes of chances to compete in national competitions and have won awards in female categories. Now, the governing body of sports in one country wants to change legislation to ensure only biological females can compete in the women’s category.
British Athletics, also known as UK Athletics, wants the government to change the law requiring that women’s sports be reserved to those who were “assigned female at birth” to keep competition fair, Reuters reported this week. This policy would exclude biological males who believe they are transgender women from competing against females.
Chair Ian Beattie said the governing body wanted athletics to be a "welcoming environment for all", but clarified it had a responsibility to "ensure fairness" in women's sports, according to BBC:
UKA disagrees with the use of testosterone suppression for transgender women as there is "currently no scientifically robust, independent research showing that all male performance advantage is eliminated".
UKA added it has seen "no evidence that it is safe for transgender women to reduce their hormonal levels by testosterone suppression", and that there is "insufficient research to understand the effects on transgender women if such testosterone suppression is carried out suddenly".
Therefore it would instead like to reserve the female category for those who were recorded female at birth and have not undergone transition.
Reportedly, UKA believes that “efforts should be made to fairly and safely include transgender women in an 'open' category, which would replace the current male category and be open to athletes of all sexes.”
In the UK, a Gender Recognition Act mandates that sports treat biological males who believe they are transgender women “as female for all purposes.” As a result, UKA is requesting that changes are made to this act for women’s sports.
"This would enable UKA and other sporting bodies the ability to ensure the women's category can be lawfully reserved for female competitors," a the UKA's statement said.
Several sports governing bodies, including swimming, cycling, and rugby have come forward with restrictions on biological male "transgender" athletes. Last June, on the anniversary of Title IX, world chamption track athlete Cynthia Monteleone told me that having an "open" category for transgender athletes would be a step in the right direction to preserve fairness in women's sports.
"I have firsthand knowledge of what it feels like to line up next a male-bodied athlete," Monteleone told Townhall. "I'm also a coach to young athletes and Olympians. And for my young athletes, it's really important that when I teach them lessons like 'hard work pays off' that rings true...that lesson falls apart when they have to line up next to someone who, quite literally, can be a mediocre athlete and still win."
"I want everybody to be able to participate in sports. There are so many valuable lessons in sports," she said. "So, yea, let's include everybody. But that doesn't mean excluding females from their opportunities. I'm not the policymaker, but it seems to make the most sense to me to have an open category," she added, and clarified that it is not her belief that there are more than two genders.
