Thread: FINA ruling restricts transgender athletes

The participation of transgender athletes in competitive sports continues to be a controversial issue, specifically the inclusion of transgender women and girls in women's sports.

Some argue that transgender women who compete in a female category of sport have an unfair advantage in competition due to sex differences and human physiology. Others view banning transgender women as discriminatory, especially if they have undergone hormone replacement therapy that has been shown to negate the physical advantages they might hold over cisgender women.

Whereas some sports have created standards and policies to deal with the discrepancy, others have not.

On Sunday, swimming's world governing body, FINA, announced a new policy effective Monday that restricts transgender athletes' participation in elite women's competitions.

The regulation comes as University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas won the women's 500-yard freestyle event in March 2022. She also made history as the first known transgender person to capture a Division I national title, but under this new rule, she would be ineligible to compete in elite women's competitions.

Here's everything you need to know about the new FINA policy and other policies around transgender athletes:

What was FINA's ruling about transgender swimmers?

On Sunday, FINA voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women's swimming competitions.

The new rules state that those who transitioned before the age of 12 will be the only swimmers permitted to compete, effective on Monday. However, transitioning before puberty is not recommended by medical experts. Last week, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health lowered its recommended age for trans kids to begin hormone therapy to age 14 from age 16.

Any swimmer competing in women's races will also be required to maintain a testosterone level under 2.5 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L). According to the Mount Sinai Health system, normal testosterone levels for women are between 0.5 and 2.4 nmol/L....

After FINA ruling, do other sports restrict transgender athletes? | RSN

About time

Good news, hopefully the beginning of more pushback, it is amazing how far down the road they have gotten.

I'm really hoping this will solve some of the problems. Now if only NCAA and the Olympic Committee will adopt these rules, that would help.
My granddaughter will be swimming for the Air Force Academy this year. She leaves tomorrow for "boot camp" at the Academy in Colorado Springs.
She knows the "Lia Thomas" and has had to swim against him. It's ridiculous!!!! Trust me the girls on his team at Penn and the ones that swam against him would have been vocal about it it they had not been threatened with their scholarship and getting kicked off the team.
I am so hoping this new ruling will not encourage the younger boys to transition at a younger age now since this ruling is only for transitioning after age 12 or puberty.

Originally Posted by Joy

I'm really hoping this will solve some of the problems. Now if only NCAA and the Olympic Committee will adopt these rules, that would help.
My granddaughter will be swimming for the Air Force Academy this year. She leaves tomorrow for "boot camp" at the Academy in Colorado Springs.
She knows the "Lia Thomas" and has had to swim against him. It's ridiculous!!!! Trust me the girls on his team at Penn and the ones that swam against him would have been vocal about it it they had not been threatened with their scholarship and getting kicked off the team.
I am so hoping this new ruling will not encourage the younger boys to transition at a younger age now since this ruling is only for transitioning after age 12 or puberty.

Threatened with their scholarship? Insane.

I read somewhere the progressive agenda is to have everyone be "sexually fluid", meaning they want our youth to explore and participate in sex with all genders which I think there's nearly a dozen or so?

I can't see most of mainstream society going along with this. I hope I'm not wrong.