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FINA, the international governing body for swimming, has faced a backlash over the new “gender mainstreaming policy”, which was approved on Sunday, setting the standard for transgender athletes to participate in the sport.
The “gender mainstreaming policy” will only allow swimmers who have passed the age of 12 to compete in women’s competitions. FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new policies. There was also a proposal for a new “open competition policy”. The organization said it was setting up “a new working group that will spend the next six months looking for the most effective ways to create this new category”.
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In a 24-page policy released Sunday, FINA states how transgender men and women will be allowed to compete under the new rules.
LGBTQ + and other swimmers’ rights groups said the policy would harm transgender athletes.
“FINA’s new eligibility criteria for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex variations are discriminatory, harmful, unscientific and inconsistent with the IOC’s 2021 principles for the inclusion of trans people in sports,” the tweet said.
Interim President of the Human Rights Campaign Johnny Madison also spoke about FINA’s decision.
“This sudden and discriminatory decision is an outright attack on transgender athletes who have worked to comply with long-standing policies that allow them to participate for years without problems. This policy is an example of swimming organizations descending into an avalanche of ill-informed, biased attacks against a particular transgender swimmer. We call on FINA to rethink its policy and ensure the inclusion of all athletes – including transgender women – and to allow them to participate in sports without discrimination, abuse or harassment, “Madison said in a statement.
Jonathan Van Ness was among those who spoke out against FINA’s policies. (Jamal Countess / Getty Images)
“To young athletes who may be discouraged by this policy, know that we know and believe that every young person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and that transgender children, like their friends, deserve the same chances to learn. sportsmanship, self-management. discipline and teamwork and build a sense of belonging to your peers. “
AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING STAR SUPPORTS FINA’S SEXUAL END POLICY
Others also joined social networks.
FINA stated that transgender men have the right to compete in FINA competitions and set world records in the men’s category, unless:
“For water polo and high jump, the competitor must provide FINA with a risk form signed and dated by the Athlete or, if the Athlete is a minor, by his / her legal representative” or “All Athletes undergoing treatment involving Testosterone or other anabolic substances as part of female-to-male sex-promoting hormone therapy are required to receive a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for this treatment in accordance with FINA’s doping control rules. “
Transgender women and athletes whose legal gender and / or gender identity are women may compete in FINA-sanctioned competitions if “they can establish to satisfy FINA that they have not experienced any part of male puberty after stage 2. or before the age of 12, whichever is later. “
Leah Thomas watches after winning 500 yards of freestyle for women during the 2022 NCAA, Division I, Women’s Swimming & amp; McAuley Water Center Diving Championships on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology on March 17, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photos by Mike Comer / NCAA via Getty Images)
The athlete must provide evidence that he / she is “completely insensitive to androgens and therefore unable to experience male puberty” or “They are sensitive to androgens, but male puberty is suppressed, starting with Tanner’s stage 2 or before the age of 12, which of the two is later, and since then they have consistently maintained their serum (or plasma) testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol / L or “Unintentional deviation from the 2.5 nmol / L requirement may lead to retrospective disqualification. of results and / or prospective period of inadmissibility or “Intentional deviation of less than 2.5 nmol / L requirement may result in retrospective disqualification of results and future period of inadmissibility equal to or commensurate in length with periods imposed under FINA DRC for intentional anti-doping rule violations involving anabolic steroids. “
Transgender athletes who do not meet eligibility standards can compete in “any open events” that the organization may develop in the future.
David Gerard, a senior medical officer at FINA, said on Monday that the new policy of the international governing body for elite swimming towards transgender athletes was “the best result” for the future of the sport.
“I think FINA’s approach to this was very enlightened, it was very balanced, it was informed,” Gerard told Reuters. “He recognizes the voice of the athlete, the scientific, objective evidence and the slightly more subjective (s) legal issues related to human rights, which were argued very strongly by the lawyers present.
The logo of the International Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Synchronized Swimming and Open Water Swimming, FINA was displayed during the FINA World Championships in Rome on July 25, 2009 (MARTIN BUREAU / AFP via Getty Images)
“I hope this model is something that is being considered by other sports.”
Gerard, a former New Zealand Olympian, added that justice in sport was a major problem FINA was trying to face, and predicted it would continue to be a problem.
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“This is an issue we will have to deal with and the debate will continue,” he said. “But when it comes to justice and when it comes to safety, you have to draw a line in the sand.”
Ryan Gaidos is the sports editor of Fox News and Fox Business. Story tips can be sent to Ryan.Gaydos@fox.com.
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