Essay On Transgender Identity In Sports

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In sports, should there be a category for people who identify themselves as transgender? I believe people should not be limited or labeled for just one gender. In society, a binary system is a difficult complex system. A binary system is a system with two gender identities where male’s bodies have a certain biological identity and where female’s bodies have a certain biological identity. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) should not organize and group Athletes by either Male or Female genders for the purpose of fair competition but should have groups of athletes with transgender identity and biological identity incorporated into both male and female categories because identities are non-binary. Also, genders can have many complex levels when you break it down. To begin, it …show more content…

When athletes have higher testosterone levels, they tend to be stronger and faster. In “Olympic Lady Gender Testing?” SourceFed states, “The I.A.A.F. policy wants to ban female athletes with high levels of testosterone” (Olympic Lady Gender Testing, Bereta & Newton). Joe Bereta and Lee Newton discuss how people produce testosterone at different levels that we can’t control. If we are not in control of our testosterone levels that is produced, then we should not be penalizing when it comes to fair competition. People should be allowed to compete with other people if they have either high or low level of testosterone. For example, if a female gender is born with more testosterone, then they should still be allowed to compete with other female contesters. In this case, for example, Caster Semenya was banned because she had an abnormal amount of testosterone level than what the IOC declared for female levels of