The ongoing issue of biological men competing in women’s sports is about to enter the ring. Starting in 2024, USA Boxing is going to allow trans women to compete against actual female fighters.
What could possibly go wrong?
The Daily Mail reports:
USA Boxing to allow transgender women to compete against female boxers under certain conditions from 2024 after introducing new policyUSA Boxing has adopted a ‘Transgender Policy’, which will allow male boxers who transition to fight in the female category from 2024.The governing body, which oversees America’s amateur and Olympic-style boxing, will allow transgender athletes to compete under certain conditions.While boxers under the age of 18 must still compete as their birth gender, transgender fighters will be permitted to fight in the category of their choice.They must meet certain criteria, including declaring their new gender identity, completing gender reassignment surgery and regular hormone testing.Both male and female transgender athletes must have undergone quarterly hormone testing and provided US Boxing with documentation of their hormone levels for a minimum of four years following surgery.Boxers who have transitioned from male to female must demonstrate that their total testosterone level in serum has been below 5 nmol/L for at least 48 months prior to her first competition.Their total testosterone level in serum must remain below 5 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.
Caroline Downey of National Review points out that this decision by USA Boxing does not align with all boxing organizations:
USA Boxing’s move to enshrine trans participation into its guidelines for the new year contrasts with the actions of some international professional boxing organizations to safeguard the female category and avoid subjecting its fighters to disproportionate danger.The World Boxing Council announced in December 2022 that it intends to create a separate category in which transgender athletes can compete in order to protect the women’s division but accommodate men who have undergone sex changes.Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of the WBC, told the Telegraph at the time: “It is the time to do this, and we are doing this because of safety and inclusion. We have been the leaders in rules for women’s boxing — so the dangers of a man fighting a woman will never happen because of what we are going to put in place.”
And of course, people on Twitter/X have thoughts about this.
In 2022, a female volleyball player at a high school in North Carolina suffered head trauma when a trans player spiked a ball that hit her. A volleyball. Don’t you think boxing is a whole other category of danger?
Featured image via YouTube.
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