Sports
Transgender athletes shouldn’t compete in female competition—Davies
Transgender athletes should not compete in female competitions in order to “protect women’s sport”, says former British swimmer Sharron Davies, National Daily gathered.
It comes after 18-time tennis Grand Slam singles champion Martina Navratilova said it was “cheating” to allow transgender women to compete in women’s sport as they had unfair physical advantages.
One campaign group said Navratilova’s comments were “transphobic”.
On Twitter , Davies said she has “nothing against” transgender people.
“However, I believe there is a fundamental difference between the binary sex you are born with and the gender you may identify as,” the 1980 Olympic silver medallist said.
“To protect women’s sport those with a male sex advantage should not be able to compete in women’s sport.”
Transgender women in sport: Are they really a ‘threat’ to female sport?
In December, transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon told BBC Sport she estimated she has received more than 100,000 hate messages on Twitter since she won her UCI Masters Track World Championship title in October.
Fellow cyclist Jen Wagner-Assali, who finished third, called it “unfair” and called on cycling’s international governing body to change its rules.
Athlete Ally – a US-based organisation that campaigns for LGBT sportspeople – cut its links with Navratilova in the wake of the 62-year-old’s comments, saying they “perpetuate dangerous myths”.
Navratilova has been a long-standing campaigner for gay rights and suffered abuse when she came out as gay in the 1980s.
Under guidelines introduced in 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows athletes transitioning from female to male to participate without restrictions.
Male to female competitors, however, are required to have kept their levels of testosterone – a hormone that increases muscle mass – below a certain level for at least 12 months.
