The Vancouver Province
Tue 18 May 2004

IOC opens door to the trans-gendered

Trans-gendered athletes have been given the green light to compete at the 2004 Olympics this summer in Athens. Under a proposal approved by the International Olympic Committee's executive board, athletes who've had sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if their new gender has been legally recognized and they've had a minimum two-year period of postoperative hormone therapy.

Charmaine Crooks, an IOC member from Vancouver, said Monday that the decision was made because of potential legal issues and in the interest of fairness for trans-gendered athletes.

"We worked on this for a long time," she said Monday. "We have to take into account the human rights issues and the legal issues around this. There are very few cases in this but [the decision was made] because of the litigious nature of sport and also respecting human rights. These assigned sexes are legally recognized, so there's a human rights issue to this."

The IOC didn't want to discriminate against a trans-gendered athlete. But it also wanted to protect athletes from being put at a competitive disadvantage by a potentially stronger trans-gendered rival.

"How do we balance the human rights of those who've had surgical changes and make sure there's fairness for female athletes who are competing against someone who's had their sex assigned?" asked Crooks.

"The [two-year] time lapse minimizes any advantages," she said.

Mandatory gender testing has been barred by most sports, but there is still some case-by-case testing. Crooks said the IOC will handle this case-by-case.

"We are continuing to watch this and study this very closely," she said. "There are some individuals who have undergone assigned sex who are out there competing right now. We have to take in medical considerations, the legal considerations and, of course, the human rights considerations."

Four years ago, when Vancouver's Michelle Dumaresq got into mountain biking, there was controversy about whether Dumaresq, who'd been a man, should be allowed to compete. The Union Cycliste Internationale has allowed Dumaresq to compete at world championship and World Cup events for the past two years. She lives in Colorado but rides for the North Shore Mountain Biking team sponsored by nsmb.com., an on-line mountain biking magazine. Team manager Cam McRae is happy to have her on the team.

"I respect her as a person," McRae said. "She's pursued her goals in a noble way and she's an excellent representative for our sport. She's a good role model."

Dumaresq couldn't be reached for comment. She rides in downhill, which isn't an Olympic event.

reprinted with permission