Cut From Yahoo News:
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Transsexuals were cleared Monday to compete in the Olympics for the first time.
Under a proposal approved by the IOC executive board, athletes who have undergone sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if their new gender has been legally recognized and they have gone through a minimum two-year period of postoperative hormone therapy.
The decision, which covers both male-to-female and female-to-male cases, goes into effect starting with the Athens Olympics in August.
The IOC had put off a decision in February, saying more time was needed to consider all the medical issues.
Some members had been concerned whether male-to-female transsexuals would have physical advantages competing against women.
Men have higher levels of testosterone and greater muscle-to-fat ratio and heart and lung capacity. However, doctors say, testosterone levels and muscle mass drop after hormone therapy and sex-change surgery.
IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said the situation of transsexuals competing in high-level sports was "rare but becoming more common."
IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch said no specific sports had been singled out by the ruling.
"Any sport may be touched by this problem," he said. "Until now, we didn't have any rules or regulations. We needed to establish some sort of policy."
Until 1999, the IOC conducted gender verification tests at the Olympics but the screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games.
One of the best known cases of transsexuals in sports involves Renee Richards, formerly Richard Raskind, who played on the women's tennis tour in the 1970s.
In March, Australia's Mianne Bagger became the first transsexual to play in a pro golf tournament.
Michelle Dumaresq, formerly Michael, has competed in mountain bike racing for Canada.
Richards, now a New York opthamologist, was surprised by the IOC decision and was against it. She said decisions on transsexuals should be made on an individual basis.
"Basically, I think they're making a wrong judgment here, although I would have loved to have that judgment made in my case in 1976," she said.
"They're probably looking for trouble down the line. There may be a true transsexual — not someone who's nuts and wants to make money — who will be a very good champion player, and it will be a young person, let's say a Jimmy Connors or a Tiger Woods, and then they'll have an unequal playing field.
"In some sports, the physical superiority of men over women is very significant."
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Former Member
Gender is not always so straightforward. There are several Sex Differentiation Disorders, which are medical conditions and are often underlying a decision of a person to have a "sex change" operation. A greater understanding of these conditions and the lives of transgendered people might lead to greater acceptance....
Klinefelter's Syndrome is a chromosomal condition that affects males. In Klinefelter syndrome, a male has two X's and a Y. The condition is COMMON and affects 1 in 500 males. The infant with Klinefelter's appears normal at birth, and the condition usually becomes apparent in puberty when secondary sexual characteristics fail to develop (or develop late). At this time, testicular changes occur that usually results in infertility. Symptoms include: small penis; small firm testicles; diminished pubic, axillary, and facial hair; sexual dysfunction; enlarged *** tissue; tall stature; abnormal body proportions (long legs, short trunk). The the severity of symptoms may vary from case to case, and some cases go undetected.
Turner's Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that affects females. It occurs when one of the two X chromosomes normally found in females is missing or incomplete. This disorder is often accompanied by several medical complications. One aspect of treatment is hormone therapy so that the affected person can develop secondary female sexual characteristics.
A Hermaphrodite is a person born with both male and female sex organs. There are 3 types of Hermaphrodites: True, Male Pseudo and Female Pseudo.
A True hermaprodite is born with both ovary and testicular tissue, this could be 2 seperate gonads (one of each) or a combination of both in one (an ovotestes). The genitalia can vary from completely male or female, to a combination of both or even ambiguous looking. The chromosome can be XX, XY,, XX/XY or XO. Those XX with female genitalia on the outside (testicular tissue inside) are raised female while those XY with male genitalia outside (ovary inside) are raised male. The children born XX/XY or XO with genitalia male or female are raised in the sex they look most like. Those born with ambiguous genitalia usually have doctors assign them a sex, and surgery is done at an early age. The way the child is raised and/or the early surgery sometimes doesn't work for the child or the adult that the child becomes, and some hermaphrodites who were assigned a sex as children change their sex again as adults through sex change operations and hormone treatments.
A female pseudo hermaphrodite is a person born XX with normal female internal organs but with "masculanized" genitalia. They can appear more male then female or a combination of each.
A male pseudo hermaphrodite is a person born XY with testes (usually in the abdominal cavity). The external genitalia are usually female but can be ambiguous.
Discovery Health Channel (I think it was) recently had a series of documentaries on trangendered people and hermaphrodites. I recommend seeing this series if it comes on again. One of the documentaries profiled several people who had or were having sex change operations. Their decisions (and lives) are not easy, nor are the gender issues clear.
Gender is not always so straightforward. There are several Sex Differentiation Disorders, which are medical conditions and are often underlying a decision of a person to have a "sex change" operation. A greater understanding of these conditions and the lives of transgendered people might lead to greater acceptance....
Klinefelter's Syndrome is a chromosomal condition that affects males. In Klinefelter syndrome, a male has two X's and a Y. The condition is COMMON and affects 1 in 500 males. The infant with Klinefelter's appears normal at birth, and the condition usually becomes apparent in puberty when secondary sexual characteristics fail to develop (or develop late). At this time, testicular changes occur that usually results in infertility. Symptoms include: small penis; small firm testicles; diminished pubic, axillary, and facial hair; sexual dysfunction; enlarged *** tissue; tall stature; abnormal body proportions (long legs, short trunk). The the severity of symptoms may vary from case to case, and some cases go undetected.
Turner's Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that affects females. It occurs when one of the two X chromosomes normally found in females is missing or incomplete. This disorder is often accompanied by several medical complications. One aspect of treatment is hormone therapy so that the affected person can develop secondary female sexual characteristics.
A Hermaphrodite is a person born with both male and female sex organs. There are 3 types of Hermaphrodites: True, Male Pseudo and Female Pseudo.
A True hermaprodite is born with both ovary and testicular tissue, this could be 2 seperate gonads (one of each) or a combination of both in one (an ovotestes). The genitalia can vary from completely male or female, to a combination of both or even ambiguous looking. The chromosome can be XX, XY,, XX/XY or XO. Those XX with female genitalia on the outside (testicular tissue inside) are raised female while those XY with male genitalia outside (ovary inside) are raised male. The children born XX/XY or XO with genitalia male or female are raised in the sex they look most like. Those born with ambiguous genitalia usually have doctors assign them a sex, and surgery is done at an early age. The way the child is raised and/or the early surgery sometimes doesn't work for the child or the adult that the child becomes, and some hermaphrodites who were assigned a sex as children change their sex again as adults through sex change operations and hormone treatments.
A female pseudo hermaphrodite is a person born XX with normal female internal organs but with "masculanized" genitalia. They can appear more male then female or a combination of each.
A male pseudo hermaphrodite is a person born XY with testes (usually in the abdominal cavity). The external genitalia are usually female but can be ambiguous.
Discovery Health Channel (I think it was) recently had a series of documentaries on trangendered people and hermaphrodites. I recommend seeing this series if it comes on again. One of the documentaries profiled several people who had or were having sex change operations. Their decisions (and lives) are not easy, nor are the gender issues clear.
