Transwomen in elite sport: scientific and ethical considerations

The inclusion of elite transwomen athletes in sport is controversial. The recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2015) guidelines allow transwomen to compete in the women’s division if (amongst other things) their testosterone is held below 10 nmol/L. This is significantly higher than that of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical ethics 2019-06, Vol.45 (6), p.395-403
Main Authors: Knox, Taryn, Anderson, Lynley C, Heather, Alison
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Athletes
Bioethics
Drugs & sports
Ethics
Extended essay
Extended essays
feminism
Gender equity
Hormones
human dignity
Olympic games
Physiology
regulation
Science
scientific research
sexuality/gender
Surgery
Testosterone
Transgender persons
Women
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Summary:The inclusion of elite transwomen athletes in sport is controversial. The recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2015) guidelines allow transwomen to compete in the women’s division if (amongst other things) their testosterone is held below 10 nmol/L. This is significantly higher than that of cis-women. Science demonstrates that high testosterone and other male physiology provides a performance advantage in sport suggesting that transwomen retain some of that advantage. To determine whether the advantage is unfair necessitates an ethical analysis of the principles of inclusion and fairness. Particularly important is whether the advantage held by transwomen is a tolerable or intolerable unfairness. We conclude that the advantage to transwomen afforded by the IOC guidelines is an intolerable unfairness. This does not mean transwomen should be excluded from elite sport but that the existing male/female categories in sport should be abandoned in favour of a more nuanced approach satisfying both inclusion and fairness.
ISSN:0306-6800
1473-4257
DOI:10.1136/medethics-2018-105208