The International Olympic Committee made a decision on Monday to update its guidelines for transgender athletes, so that those Olympians do not need to undergo sex reassignment surgery to compete in the games.
“It is necessary … that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition. To require surgical anatomical changes as a pre-condition to participation is not necessary to preserve fair competition and may be inconsistent with developing legislation and notions of human rights,” says the committee document.
IOC’s latest guidelines vary for trans-male athletes and trans-female athletes. The resulting guidelines insinuate that people that are born male are naturally stronger and more athletically inclined than people that are born females.
“Those who transition from female to male are eligible to compete in the male category without restriction,” the IOC announced. For athletes who transition from male to female, eligibility is subject to varying regulations regarding self-identification and levels of testosterone.
When an athlete identifies as female, “[t]he declaration cannot be changed, for sporting purposes, for a minimum of four years.”
This is an unprecendented move, being that transgender athletes were required by the to undergo sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy to compete in Olympic events.
