Outdated terminology. Anything that implies that one can simply pick it up at Macy’s should generally be avoided.
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Thank you, @skieurope. Just so I understand, how does one refer to timeframe of the prior (I guess non-affirmed) gender?
For example, if one were to say, “Thomas won the 2019 men’s backstroke race. At that time, (his/her) time was 14.21 seconds? Or does one not refer to the nonaffirmed gender ever? Or does " their” cover it all?
It speaks volumes that you see no difference between a person affirming their gender by, among other things, drastically reducing their testosterone level, versus an athlete loading up on testosterone to gain a competitive advantage.
And, yes, I realize that not all athletes who get flagged are trying to cheat, but again there is a fundamental difference between limiting performance enhancing substances and treating men and women as if they are not men and women because they have transitioned.
I’ve said enough.
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Yes, I understand, you want to allow certain artifical hormone modifications to be permitted if you personally think the reason is good enough, that it conforms with your world-view. That is one position.
One can acknowledge Thomas as a female and still believe that 20 years of growing up male, with male hormones, provides an unfair advantage
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See my earlier note on preferred pronouns. The use of pronouns for historical storytelling would likewise be dictated by the preference of the person in question. If unsure of their preference, one would more likely to be correct in using current pronouns for historical events.
Thanks, @skieurope !
That isn’t my position. I am capable of speaking for myself, so maybe leave it to me to state my position?
This is also a moment when using the singular pronoun ‘they’ an be quite helpful (if you are unsure about the preferred pronoun.
“When they won the backstroke race in 2019, their time was 14.21 seconds.”
That also avoids dead-naming them.
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One can also write in a way that minimizes the use of any pronouns at all. For example, much of the historical parts (e.g. sports achievements) of Caitlyn Jenner - Wikipedia minimizes the use of pronouns.
I should apologize as I am a trans man in a very, very conservative area and thus may be seeing things differently.
I think having a “gender neutral” competition is fine, or anything of the like. I can say that me, personally, would probably participate in sports if this was the case. As of now, I can’t, because of the issues being discussed here. If there was a separate division that was respectful and not meant just to be hurtful, I see no issue! It’s like having a gender neutral bathroom- no qualms from anyone (hopefully). I agree with sportsmanship being very important, which should also start with children being taught to respect and love everyone 
Thank you for the thoughtful response.
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Best post in the thread. Thank you.
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thank you ! I appreciate it
USA Swimming has ruled. There is a CNN article I can’t link to for those interested. Medical board with standards for acceptable testosterone levels to compete.
The elite athlete policy will be implemented by a decision-making panel comprised of three independent medical experts and eligibility criteria will consist of:
- Evidence that the prior physical development of the athlete as a male, as mitigated by any medical intervention, does not give the athlete a competitive advantage over the athlete’s cisgender female competitors.
- Evidence that the concentration of testosterone in the athlete’s serum has been less than 5 nmol/L (as measured by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) continuously for a period of at least thirty-six (36) months before the date of application.
Athletes will need to abide by USA Swimming’s Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy to be eligible to set USA Swimming National Age-Group Records in the 13-14 age group and above or to be eligible to set an American Record, per the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations, in a competition category which is different than the gender assigned to the athlete at birth.
USA Swimming’s policy is not applicable to non-USA Swimming athlete members nor non-approved Elite events, as defined in the policy.
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That is EXACTLY what the ruling should be. Hopefully, NCAA rules will be adjusted to take these rules into consideration, too!
I believe the NCAA announced in January they would abide by each sport’s governing body on transgender guidelines, so I assume USA Swimming’s policies would be adhered to for swimming.
Although other organizations can choose to follow USA Swimming’s policy lead. The NCAA has said that it would follow each sport’s governing body in terms of policy.
Here’s the CNN article. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/sport/usa-swimming-transgender-athletes-policy-spt-intl/index.html
Hopefully, NCAA will quickly adopt the above rules. After that, the question is what to do about the records that Lia Thomas set swimming in women’s competition this year, since it is unlikely that any cis woman or person who was testosterone-suppressed/deprived from before the onset of puberty, will ever be able to match these. I would hope that the NCAA will retroactively apply the new guidelines to those records.
There is nothing that can be done for the cis women who came in second place, who would have finished first had Lia Thomas not competed. They, and everyone else in women’s competitive college swimming, know what happened this year. Lia won by the rules that were in place at the time of competition.
Honestly, upcoming cis women athletes owe Lia Thomas a big thank you, for having competed in women’s NCAA collegiate swimming as a trans woman this year, after having gone through male puberty, and after having developed as a male competitive swimmer for presumably some seven years beyond puberty. Had she not made such a big splash, had she not utterly obliterated the women’s NCAA records, the appropriate attention would not have been drawn to this issue, and USA swimming would not have considered the issue and put out the new guidelines, which will hopefully be adopted by the NCAA and other sports regulatory bodies. Hopefully it will serve as a template for regulations for other women’s sports organizations.
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So under the new rules, where would Lia Thomas compete?
I don’t think she meets the “5nmol/L” standard, so if she wants to compete in the NCAA she’d have to be on the men’s team. There are no restrictions on who can compete on that team.
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