Is it fair that trans people participate in The Olympics? - Girlsplained.
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Welcome to another issue of Girlsplaining, where I - a girl - explain things. I don't pretend to be an expert on these topics; in fact, I am not. But I'm a fast learner, and I can easily explain the basics to increase your chances of someday winning 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' with every article you read.
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As I mentioned in my last article, Laurel Hubbard was the first trans woman to ever qualify and participate in the Olympics under the discipline of weightlifting. During the competition, she had one failed attempt to lift 264 lbs, and two failures lifting 230 lbs, which caused her not to finish or win any medals.
A couple of weeks ago a friend asked in a group chat if we agreed with trans women competing in the Olympics. My first answer was to say yes, after all, trans women are women, and based on that principle, there is no debate.
But the discussion did not stop there. I wasn’t following the games, and one of my friends said that Laurel Hubbard had broken a world record and won a gold medal in Tokyo. I didn't know how to feel with that information.
Later, I found out that it was all fake news. Laurel has had a very good level in other competitions, but at that time she had not even participated in Tokyo. However, that is not the most important thing. If not, what the news, fake or not, made me feel.
Although my position was to be inclusive, and agreeing that trans people should participate with the gender they identify with, thinking about cis women losing spaces didn’t make me feel comfortable. Everyone knows that I’m a feminist, and it felt strange to be in such a position. At the time, even though I didn't want to accept it consciously, I don't think I was completely convinced that trans women were women, and I regret it.
In addition to the debate, I read a lot of comments reinforcing what I thought, and in one way or another led me to believe that it was okay for me to think that way. It had also cost us (cis women) a lot to get to have almost 50/50 representation to lose it all in unfair competition. That's what I believed. That having cis women compete with trans women was unfair, but is it really?
I didn’t like to feel the way I was feeling. I knew it wasn’t coming from the best place. That’s why I decided to interview two trans women who could help me understand a little more and reach a different perspective. I want to share with you what I learned.
Are you ready to question some beliefs?
Meet the stars of this issue.
Michelle Artiles is Venezuelan, 20 years old and she impressed me with the amount of responsibilities she has. She is an activist for human rights and the rights of the LGBTQ + community, she’s studying two careers, social communication and social work, and also works as a copywriter.
I have been following Michelle for a few months on Twitter and it seems to me that she has enormous strength. Being trans and a spokesperson for the community is not an easy task, without wanting to, you end up becoming the perfect target to be attacked by haters, even more so in a country like Venezuela. That's why I wanted to hear her opinion.
Emma De Sousa is a Venezuelan singer-songwriter based in Mexico. I met her when I decided to write this article through a friend in common (thanks, Nina). From what we chatted and what I’ve seen on her social media, I can see that she has traveled a beautiful journey of finding herself, and that makes you connect immediately with her.
Stalking her on social media, I listened to her song “I’m a Woman,” which in addition to being a pure expression of what she is, it’s super contagious. I have been singing it all week. Here it is for you to enjoy it.
The importance of representation.
I have already told you about this in other articles, but if you belong to a minority, you know that seeing someone like you on television, in competitions, in the position you want to get at your work, is not something trivial or to be taken for granted.
For Emma, seeing a trans woman at the Olympics is a huge social and inclusive advance. "Of course I am very proud and happy for her." Trans people are everywhere, now we just need to expose them to the world.
Because as Michelle says, for a trans woman to be at the Olympic Games, “it means we’re being seen. What she can do (referring to Laurel) is to represent us and give us references to the community. It is that all trans boys, girls, and children can see themselves reflected in her (...). Perhaps some trans children are athletes and do not want to enter sports because they believe that this world is not for them, or because they are going to reject them. Laurel's example tells them that it can be done."
I think if Laurel had won, it would have been exciting, but at the same time, I think she would have been the perfect target to hit in a campaign against this decision by the Olympic Committee to accept trans people in the competition.
“I think that in these types of things, the simple fact of getting in is already enough. Like what Angela Ponce said when she arrived at Miss Universe, 'I didn't want to win, I just wanted to get to Miss Universe.'” Michelle said.
Let's break the beliefs, is it unfair to cis women that trans women participate?
This is one of the questions we ask ourselves the most because, so far, what is scientifically proven is that men are stronger than women due to their fiber and muscle mass. But do those characteristics transition too? Does that put trans women at an advantage and trans men at a disadvantage?
The truth is that there is not enough research. Emma explains it in the following way, “science is always based on their research, but they have not done a study where they put a trans woman and a cis woman to train in the same way from scratch (...). If both put the same effort and develop together, I am sure they will have the same strength and ability to compete."
And that is one of the biggest criticisms, as a society, we are questioning an event that has a lot of importance for the LGBTQ + community from morality, and morality is not their best ally.
For Michelle, it is not unfair that Laurel has competed “because she was able to participate after she passed all the exams that the IOC (International Olympic Committee) requires, and if a person passes all the exams, that is a person who is fully qualified to compete in a genre category.”
In fact, Laurel said this in an interview with the BBC, "I know something about the controversy surrounding my participation in these games. For this, I would like to especially thank the IOC, because I think it really affirms their commitment to the principles of Olympism, and it establishes that sport is something for all people, it is inclusive and accessible."
I’m sure you are thinking, of course, but they do not put a limit on maximum performance. Mm, it is not like that. Michelle introduced me to the case of Caster Semenya, a South African intersex athlete who has a condition called "hypoandrogenism." Basically, she is a woman who produces a very high amount of testosterone. In 2016, she won gold at the Rio Olympics, and as a result, the International Association of Athletics Federations imposed a rule that requires athletes with her condition to take medicine to lower testosterone levels in order to participate.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said those rules were discriminatory, but "necessary, reasonable and proportionate" to protect "the integrity of women's sport," according to the BBC.
So these people do care that games are fair, and they seem to care more about that than being inclusive.
The mix of morals and reality.
One of the things that impressed me while researching for this article, and as I discussed it with Emma, is that there are not enough studies. There is not enough data to prove whether or not there are differences in physical abilities between a trans person and a cis person before and after the transition.
And that itself is an act of discrimination. “The key is in the development of studies, rather than giving opinions that DO DISCRIMINATE because those are opinions based on archaic studies or beliefs. Is science really advancing as much as we believe? The answer is no,” Emma told me.
That was one of the arguments that resonated with me the most, questioning where my beliefs were coming from. If Laurel didn't win because she couldn't lift the weight, she passed all the tests that were required of her, and there are restrictions for people who have high levels of testosterone in her blood. Where is the question of whether that's fair or not coming from?
The answer is easy, it’s coming from morality. From what they have told us for years that "it is the right thing to do" and it is what "God wanted", but God is not tangible, the tests they did to Laurel, are. This is one of those times where morality is not invited to play along with the facts.
I think it's the perfect time to talk about something Michelle said to me, “As a community, we are trying to leave behind the term trans and cis because that divides us, separates us, differentiates us. Let's be women, in unity."
Emma reinforced this by saying “the fact of believing that one woman will take space away from another is a discriminatory, transphobic and classifying act. At the end of the day they are women who identify as such, or in the opposite case trans men. No one is going to take away anyone's space.”
Giving spaces is not losing spaces.
That thought made me a better feminist because I'm not just one for cis women, I'm a feminist for women, all of them.
I trust that the processes of each of the competitions will be based on evidence and seek justice, I can only get excited every time women get more equal representation.
If you still don't think it's fair, I leave you with my closing argument.
As Emma told me, the best proof that it was a fair competition is that Laurel didn't win, “she was supposed to have lifted that weight without problem because she was born in the gender that they say is the predominant one with physical strength. And she didn't make it. I think that’s an answer by itself."
It is normal to feel uncomfortable with changes, it is rare not to know how to act and not understand the rules of the game. What's not okay is closing your arms and throwing a tantrum for refusing to hear another opinion. We will not always agree, that does not mean that we cannot be respectful of changes, especially when those changes impact the lives and rights of thousands of people.
I invite you to question yourself and respectfully ask questions of those who think differently from you. Who knows, you might change your mind, or strengthen your convictions even more.
If you liked this article, these may also interest you:
Olympic games, origin story, and the hidden sexism in them.- Girlsplained.
What does it mean to identify as gender-neutral? - Girlsplained.
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