2015 - Trans Guidelines Updated
In 2015 the IOC revised their guidelines previously written in 2004 and no longer required athletes to undergo sex reassignment surgery before competing. The hormone therapy sufficed for athletes to compete in future olympics. The official rules from the IOC website are listed below:
- Those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction.
- Those who transition from male to female are eligible to compete in the female category under the following conditions:
- The athlete has declared that her gender identity is female. The declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.
- The athlete must demonstrate that her total testosterone level in serum has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to her first competition (with the requirement for any longer period to be based on a confidential case-by-case evaluation, considering whether or not 12 months is a sufficient length of time to minimize any advantage in women’s competition).
- The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.
- Compliance with these conditions may be monitored by testing. In the event of non-compliance, the athlete’s eligibility for female competition will be suspended for 12 months.
The Takeaway Message:
The takeaway message from all the history of marginalized athletes in sports is that tolerance and understanding is the most important thing to consider. We are continuing to progress and we should not be content while there is any intolerance in the world, but we can also take pride in our accomplishments as a society. Specifically to transgender athletes, I have learned that gender is not a binary male and female decision, but actually a spectrum. Gender is much more complicated than just the cultural construct which humanity has created containing only two categories. Genitals, hormones, personality, sexuality, and countless other factors contribute to a person's gender. People need to remember that the world is not black and white, but a spectrum of colors in which every possibility either exists or has existed.