Guidelines For Trans And Gender Diverse Athletes in Australian Sport Revealed
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The Australian Sports Commission has unveiled a new set of guidelines for the participation of trans and gender-diverse athletes in professional sport, promoting both fairness and inclusion.
Developed in close consultation with medical professionals, sporting organisations, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, and individual athletes, the guidelines aim to address recent and widespread bans on transgender athletes by many of Australia’s governing sports bodies.
Fighting Discrimination
It gives guidance by providing considerations for organisations developing trans-inclusive eligibility policies, including hormone thresholds, performance assessments, and appropriate avenues to raise safety concerns.
Consequently, the guidelines direct institutions such as Basketball and Rugby Australia to uphold Australian law and the Sex Discrimination Act – which makes it “unlawful to discriminate against a person because of their sex, gender identity, intersex status”.
Discussing the guidelines, Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins emphasised both the consideration made towards it, as well as the overall necessity of its implementation.
“What we’ve been able to do…working with medical professionals, people involved in sport – both cisgender and trans athletes, as well as the LGBTQ+ community and others… [is] to actually find the Australian context and come up with guidelines that allow for a pragmatic approach,” he told ABC’s The Ticket.
Perkins goes on to highlight how there is an increasing need for organisations to provide “diverse and safe opportunities” for competitors, while simultaneously dispelling misconceptions surrounding trans, and particularly male-to-female athletes who often attract significant controversy.
“Reflective Of The Truth”
“There is a misconception that a man can wake up one morning, decide he is female, and be free to compete in the women’s category under inclusion guidelines,” he said.
“No, it can’t. One of the things I guess I’ve been educated on… is I am yet to meet a transgender person who could ever reflect that their journey is as simple, and as black and white, and as blunt and easy as that.”
“This idea that someone just wakes up one morning and goes boom, here I go, I’m off to take over the world in another gender’s sport isn’t really reflective of the truth of the personal, emotional, and physical journey that someone goes on.”
Moving forward, it is ultimately up to the rest of Australia’s sports heads to acknowledge these guidelines and follow suit.
