Hockey and triathlon are latest international federations announcing review of transgender policies

Sports governing bodies from international to local levels are examining their policies concerning transgender athletes in women’s sports with the understanding that their decisions will be controversial.

FINA, the international swimming federation, made a definitive ruling late last month, prompting other organizations to review their own stances.

The International Hockey Federation (IHF) and World Triathlon are the latest to announce their next steps. The IHF is “conducting a review of our transgender policy and this is a current work in progress in consultation with the IOC,” a spokesperson told Reuters.

World Triathlon said the federation’s medical committee, women’s committee and equality, diversity & inclusion commissions is in the process of reviewing policies. Guidelines will be released after the approval of the Executive Board in November.

“Once approved, it will be implemented at international level (World Triathlon) and also distributed to all National Federations for their implementation at a local level,” a World Triathlon spokesperson told Reuters.

“We have also reached out to the transgender community to receive their feedback and inputs. We really hope that new guidelines will provide a fair and inclusive competition for all athletes, including transgender, cisgender and non-binary athletes.”

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) is also working on a transgender policy that will go before its full board meeting in November.

FINA’s new policy was welcomed by some and blasted by others. It bars transgender girls and women from competing in the elite women’s category if they have not transitioned before age 12 and maintained their testosterone under a certain level. However, a working group is also studying an “open” category.

LGBT rights group Athlete Ally called FINA’s new eligibility criteria was “discriminatory” and “harmful.” Transgender cyclist Veronica Ivy said the policy was “unscientific.”

However, a new U.S.-based group called ICONS (Independent Council on Women’s Sports) has formed to prevent discrimination against female athletes.

The founders were spurred by the participation of Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete, in women’s swimming. The NCAA allowed Thomas, who represented the University of Pennsylvania, to compete at the NCAA Championships, where she won the 500-yard freestyle and tied for fifth in the 200 free with Riley Gaines of Kentucky. Although USA Swimming rules would have kept Thomas from competing, the NCAA said it was not bound by them. Thomas would be ineligible for FINA events in the women’s category.

Gaines appeared at a recent ICONS press conference in Las Vegas where she said athletes “felt silenced in facing unfair competition and the rule-makers who have really disregarded women.”

Gaines said she was ranked fourth in the NCAA rankings in the 200-yard freestyle during the collegiate season and did not recognize the name of Thomas, who ranked above her. She was then told that Thomas used to be known as Will Thomas and formerly swam for the men’s team.

In the 200, Gaines and Thomas touched the wall at same time. There was only one fifth-place trophy, and Gaines said NCAA officials handed it to Thomas and told her that hers would come in the mail. However, Gaines was given a trophy for the photos.

“Not only were we forced to race against a male,” she said, “we were completely put on the backburner for men.”

Gaines added that she can attest to the number of “sheer tears shed by ninth and 17th place finishers, who missed being All-American by one place.” She also spoke of “extreme discomfort in the locker room” and “the anger and frustration from the girls who had sacrificed so much to get to this moment.”

“The integrity of women’s sports is completely lost,” Gaines said. “We cannot to ignore these anatomical and biological differences among men and women that are blatantly obvious.

“It’s a slippery slope. It’s only a matter of time until one male national champion in a female sport turns into three and then into 10 and so on.”

As of July 2022, 18 states in the United States had banned transgender girls and women from publicly funded sports.

The International Olympic Committee has left the decision to the federations while providing a framework that says, “No athlete should be precluded from competing or excluded from competition on the exclusive ground of an unverified, alleged or perceived unfair advantage due to sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status.”

World Rugby cited safety concerns in instituting a ban on transgender players competing at the elite level of the women’s game last year.

New Zealand Rugby said late last month that it is the federation is aiming to be as inclusive as possible while implementing a transgender eligibility policy in the grassroots of the game.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has also tightened its eligibility rule

“Currently we are following the IOC’s guidelines regarding sports where physical strength is a factor,” an ICF spokesperson said told Reuters..

World Athletics, FIFA and World Netball have also announced that they are reviewing their policies.

A spokesperson for FIFA told Reuters that it “is currently reviewing its gender eligibility regulations in consultation with expert stakeholders.”

World Athletics has been a pioneer in providing guidelines for athletes with Differences in Sexual Development. President Sebastian Coe was in Budapest as a guest of FINA while it made its decision during an extraordinary general congress.

“When push comes to shove,” Coe told the BBC, “if it’s a judgment between inclusion and fairness, we will always fall down on the side of fairness — that for me is non-negotiable.”