A letter from athletes on the women’s swimming team at the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, was sent to the institution and to the Ivy League (a group of top universities in the country) asking that both entities not take legal action against the new rules for athletes. transgender, recently updated by the NCAA (National College Sports Association).
In January, the association defined that the official body of each sport would be responsible for setting the rules for the inclusion of transgender athletes in competitions. Last Thursday (3), USA Swimming, which organizes the sport in the country, established its new criteria, which could prevent transgender athlete Lia Thomas from competing, if the NCAA in fact adopts these rules.
The text of the letter was sent by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and founder of Champion Women, an organization that advocates for gender equality in sports, “on behalf of 16 athletes”, although they were not identified.
In the message, they say they were warned that they would “be removed from the team or never get a job offer” if they took a stand, so they didn’t sign the letter and sought Nancy’s mediation. On the other hand, they say they “fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to assert her gender identity and transition from male to female.”
Then they explain why they oppose the athlete’s presence on the team. “However, we also recognize that when it comes to athletic competition, the biology of sex is separate from issues of gender identity. Biologically, Lia has an unfair advantage in the women’s category, evidenced by her rankings, which jumped from 462nd place as a man to 1st place as a woman.”
“Most of us started swimming at the same time as Lia, in our pre-teens. We train up to 20 hours a week. Being passed over or beaten by someone competing with strength, height, and lung capacity advantages that only come with puberty and masculinity.” has been extremely difficult,” they wrote.
The University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team, according to the letter, has 40 women, but only 18 of them are selected to compete in Ivy League tournaments.
USA Swimming’s new rules state that transgender swimmers must be vetted by an independent panel of three medical experts, who will be responsible for determining whether the person’s physical development before transition gives them an advantage over cisgender swimmers.
In addition, the athlete’s body testosterone concentration must be less than 5 nanomols/liter continuously for 36 months prior to enrollment.
The updated NCAA policy on the matter will be implemented in three phases, through 2024. In the first phase, which covers 2022, athletes must present documents proving only one year of testosterone suppression treatment, according to the entity’s rules defined in 2010. .
It will only be in the third phase, between 2023 and 2024, that the NCAA intends to adopt the rules outlined by USA Swimming. Therefore, it is likely that Lia Thomas will be able to compete in the tournaments in which she is already registered and classified this year.
Source: Folha
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