dc0de wrote:
Getting my "parts" cut off, new parts created, and years of hormone therapy to win a medal as a female athlete certainly doesn't sound mentally stable... at least to me...

Yeah, it would be pretty screwed up for a non-transsexual to fake a condition and go through that (to any degree) as a means of cheating. Then again, some athletes take dangerous steroids for years, knowing their health will decline at some point, as a result.

Maybe in the past (or even currently), some countries thought they could recruit M-to-F transsexuals as ringers in female Olympic events, but I really don't know whether that's a widespread problem. As far as I'm concerned, the real issue is what to do about legitimate transsexuals and intersexuals who happen to be athletes and aren't trying to fool anyone... and I'm still not sure where I stand on that issue. I'm all for promoting sensitivity and awareness of the fact that not everyone neatly fits into XX and XY categories, but not at the expense of common sense and fair competition.

From what I've read of Soundarajan's case, she's probably intersexual. If so, it seems a bit heavy-handed to automatically disqualify anyone who's not perfectly XX because of a genetic abnormality. There are varying degrees of intersexualism, and in many cases, there wouldn't be a clear physical advantage for an athlete. I suppose it's possible that, in some cases, it could even be a disadvantage, depending on the specifics of the condition, chemical imbalances, etc. Some intersexuals aren't even aware of their conditions until they undergo testing.

As for transsexual athletes, while undergoing two or more years of hormone therapy (with or without SRS) does bring about drastic physiological changes, it can't completely undo all of the effects of puberty. Assuming that one began hormone therapy as an adult, a typical M-to-F transsexual athlete might still have a physical advantage (size and/or strength) over a typical XX female athlete, all other factors being equal. On the other hand, for those who began transitioning prior to or during puberty (another controversial issue), it might not be a factor at all.

The point of segregating the sexes in athletic competition is to ensure that we're always comparing oranges to oranges. It's the same reason that steroid use is prohibited in major sports. A level playing field must be maintained in order to keep the competition fair, both for the participants and the spectators. So, if we want to be completely fair to all parties, we'd have to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether one's being intersexual or transsexual gives one an unfair advantage. In other words, we'd need to determine whether a particular athlete is sufficiently non-female before banning that person, and that gets very subjective, depending on whether a person is intersexual or transsexual, the age at which a person began transitioning, etc. But, do we really want to be telling individuals "You're not woman enough"?

Trying to be completely fair to everyone might do more harm than good. The easy (yet non-inclusive) way out is to ban all transsexuals and intersexuals from Olympic competition, which appears to be what's happening this year in China. Conversely, we could allow anyone who is legally designated as female in her home country to compete as a female athlete, but that potentially opens the door to cheating, and/or objections from "XX" female athletes. Maybe there simply isn't a good solution to this issue.

RE: China 'sets up Olympic sex determination lab'