After reading this article, it opened my eyes to a whole new problem with sport and gender. I never even thought about the challenges that transgender, intersex, and transsexual athletes face everyday. I see nothing wrong with being any of these things because I think it is something that a person is born with and it is just who they are. This is why I think these people should be treated equally. In order for transgender, intersex, and transsexual athletes to be treated equally, they have to be granted equal opportunities to participate in athletics. This poses an ethical question. Is it fair to un-level the playing field to allow a transgender or transsexual athlete compete? This is the question faced by the olympic committee and other professional sports leagues.
I personally believe that transgender people should be allowed to compete in athletics just like everyone else and I like the NCAA rule dealing with this issue. If no hormones or drugs are involved, then the transgender athlete shall be deamed eligible to play with their biological sex. I do, in fact think it would be wrong for a transgender on hormones to be able to compete. This would be like taking PED's. While I do think that transgender athletes should be granted equal opportunities in athletics, I find it a little odd because a female who is a transgender male wants everyone to treat them as if they were a male. So it puzzles me why they would want to play a Women's sport and be called a he.
Since the emergence of Kye Allums, i think that more and more transgender athletes will be coming out and being open about who they are. This means that the NCAA will have more and more transgender athletes. I just hope that none of these athletes start to take hormones because that would make them ineligible due to the fact that it would give them a distinct advantage.
Tad,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your entry I totally agree with you. I never really sat down and thought about transgender, intersex, and transsexual athletes and the problems they face. For me I just assume everyone is straight or male or female.
Also, your point about the female who is transgender male that wants everyone to treat them as a male yet they still want to play womens sports, just be referenced as a male puzzels me as well.
I also believe that the NCAA will be changed due to transgender athletes. However, I do think it will take some time for them to fully accept transgender athletes. I feel like the only way the NCAA will put some kind of rule into place is if something major happens and it really comes down to damage control and the entire sports would questioning their ethics.
In my personal opinion it does not matter if your straight, gay, transgender ect as long as you can play a sport and you are good at it, that's all that matters.
Comment written by John Ruppert ^^
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