The International Olympic Committee executive board this month approved a measure that will allow athletes who have undergone sex change surgery to compete in Olympic events under their reassigned gender.
The new policy goes into effect in time for this summer’s Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Athletes who want to compete as transsexuals will have to prove that they have undergone at least a minimum two-year regimen of hormones following sexual reassignment surgery.
The IOC and transsexual activists argue that the fear of men who have sex change operations having an unfair advantage competing in women’s sports will never materialize because the hormone therapy causes testosterone levels and muscle mass to decline. But they conveniently forget that men have other advantages, including increased average heart and lung capacity.
Besides, this is just the foot in the door. At the Gay Games V in Amsterdam, for example, the organizers of that event were accused of bigotry for requiring the sort of proof of completion of the sex change operation that the IOC is requiring. Look for that sort of accusation to be directed at the IOC down the road.
Source:
Committee clears transsexuals for Olympics. Associated Press, May 17, 2004.