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Transgender athletes have a long and complicated history in relation to the sports they exist within and the governing bodies that surround them. As well, their unique relationship to their gender identity, their teammates, and to their sport, is oftentimes strained. Major sporting organizations such as the International Olympic Committee or FINA have often been at the centre of controversy with transgender participation policies that lack the needed elements of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Through a review of the pertinent literature from prominent journals in the sociology of sport and queer methodology, literature pertaining to transgender athletes and policy from 2010-2022 were reviewed. Themes of exclusive policies, transgender inclusion, and double standards for transgender versus cisgender athletes emerged throughout this review, with prominent gaps in regard to team sports, transgender male athletes, and lower levels of sport. The purpose of this review was to explore transgender sport policy and to reveal the existing gaps in the literature. This is a contemporary field, and we hope this review opens the dialogue for new and exciting research.

The question of integrating transgender athletes into their affirmed gender categories is becoming more prominent with sports governing bodies portraying mixed messaging when it comes to answering this question. Testosterone is beneficial to baseline sports performance, and it has been suggested that the differences in circulating testosterone concentrations between cisgender men and cisgender women explain most of the baseline differences in sports performance between the two groups. However, a secondary factor relative to sports performance is the physiological re-distribution of fat mass driven by gender-affirming hormone treatment (GAHT) and the loss of/gain of muscle mass with GAHT in both trans women and trans men and their effects on transgender sporting performance. Previous studies lack data on sports performance measures outside muscular strength and performance measures such as aerobic capacity, power and strength should be studied in tandem within an athletic cohort of trans women and trans men and compared with cisgender women and cisgender male athletes to ascertain whether any lasting advantages are present. New sports performance data on transgender athletes must be generated to inform a decision-making process to inform if the current policies in place are accurate or inexact to maintain fairness and the integrity of sport. Accordingly, this study aims to further provide sports performance and anthropometrical data from a cross-sectional analysis of athletes from 4 groups, trans men (n = 6 ) and trans women (n = 6) who have undergone ≥ 1 year of GAHT, cis men (n = 6) and cis women (n = 6) to provide further evidence and consequently, recommendations to sport’s governing bodies for the eligibility of transgender athletes

Thesis (Masters by research(Tourism Management))--University of South Australia, 2022. Includes bibliographical references (pages 113-129) This thesis examined the newly published transgender inclusion policies from Sport Australia, Cricket Australia, and the Australian Football League, and the reactions to them in the Australian news media and amongst respective fans. Grounded in poststructuralism and queer theory, the policies, news media articles, and fan surveys were thematically and discursively analysed. From this, there was a discussion on demonstrations of inclusive sentiments in the data, yet an uncritical engagement and reliance on dominant sport and science discourses, along with displays of open disdain towards the inclusion of transgender people. Another discussion focused on the different binaries enacted and constructed throughout the data to uphold dominant gender and sport discourses. Finally, practices of monitoring, controlling, and defining trans athletes found throughout the data were unpacked.

In response to cases of high-profile athletes’ sex being called into question, prior to the 2012 London Olympic Games, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) updated its policy addressing the conditions under which athletes are eligible to compete in the women’s sport category. The IAAF’s policy, which stipulated the eligibility conditions that transgender athletes, as well as athletes with disorders of sex development (DSD) and hyperandrogenism, must meet to participate in high-performance sport, was subsequently endorsed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and remained in effect until 2015 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ordered the immediate suspension of the policy. The decision rendered mixed reactions, with some dissenting voices echoing American athlete Summer Pierson’s (2011) view that “it is a privilege to compete, and in order to enjoy such a privilege, the sacrifice of certain rights is required” (323). To engage in moral evaluation of the policy, more information is needed about how the rules in force apply to and impact athletes. To gain new knowledge about athletes’ views of the sex verification regulations, athletes who identify as a trans and high-performance female athletes were invited to participate in semi-structured, in-depth interviews about their understanding of, and reactions to, rules governing sex verification in sport. Athletes, such as Pierson, who speak openly about their concerns regarding rule changes that promote inclusive sport have faced criticism and charges of intolerance, and may fear losing sponsorship opportunities for speaking their minds (Ljungqvist & Genel, 2005). For example, MMA fighter Ronda Roussey received negative publicity after questioning whether trans women MMA fighters compete at an advantage compared to athletes identified as female at birth (Samano, 2013). In discussing the results from this study, this presentation analyzes athletes’ public and private experiences supporting and challenging sex verification rules mandated by sport governing bodies, such as the IOC, IAAF, and CAS. The philosophy of sport literature is quite silent on the extent that athletes’ views should shape policymaking on contentious ethical issues. The perspectives of the people impacted most (that is, the athletes) certainly need to be included in the dialogue; however, the extent that their perspectives should be privileged over other views remains unclear. Thus, this chapter focuses on the impact of athletes’ voices in determining the moral acceptability of rule changes in sport.