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."
Former Member
so the only way these perv***ts get to win a gold is to get their ****ds chopped off?then put on a girl swimsuit??i think that in the pursuit of a gold medal there is just some levels to which i will not stoop thank you very much.....:D
With all the glaring issues in sports today - roids, gambling, athletes out of control, escalating salaries - it seems ludicrous that the IOC, or whatever governing body, would choose this topic for some great (im)moral stand.
This seems the equivalent of worrying about a split end when you have inoperable cancer.
Leave it to Ellison to spark some controversy.
Sparx I wouldn't do it either, but probably because I have more to "give up" than you.
But seriously, referring to all transsexuals as "perverts" is out of line. For some silly reason I thought prudish homophobia only existed in the US.
"its an abomination in the eyes of the lord"even quoted from the bible to wear the attire if the opposite sex.beware satan is on the prowl..as for smallmindedness no your wrong...i have relatives whom have had sex change opperations and believe me its no easy task...especially for those who have to come to terms with girl becomes boy or vice versa...the popular oppinion is to support these people but who gives support to the distraught....YES DISTRAUGHT family who are left to describe their only daughter is now a son????cmon get real:eek:
I respectfully disagree with you. As far as family members are concerned, I have also known of quite a few folks who are extremely supportive of their transexual son or daughter/sister/cousin/parent, etc.
Although this can be an issue that is difficult to understand, being cruel and judgemental to those who have struggled with feeling "trapped" in the wrong sex is not helpful to anyone and fosters an environment of fear, judgement, and misunderstanding.
i respectfully also must point out that not all the world welcomes with open arms homosexuality or transgenderism..and that oppinions expressed are although true ,not meant to harm.As the saying is true to trannys also is true to straights......free speach...thankyou for you time...:rolleyes:
"By sparx35:
i respectfully also must point out that not all the world welcomes with open arms homosexuality or transgenderism..and that oppinions expressed are although true ,not meant to harm.As the saying is true to trannys also is true to straights......free speach...thankyou for you time...:rolleyes:"
Yes, you're correct. Not everyone in the world opens their arms wide to those who are different in any way; or even of another race or culture, or gender or sexual orientation or religion... shall I go on?
The problem I have is with those who choose to be racist and bigoted and base their beliefs solely on the color of a person's skin, religious beliefs, gender, or sexual orientation, etc.
No need to roll my eyes....and no need for sarcasm on my end Sparx.
Perhaps it would be useful to get back to first principles here: what is the purpose of excluding transexuals from competition? I can see two plausible sounding lines of reasoning:
1) The anti-drug analogy of wanting to avoid having elite male swimmers feel pressured to have sex change operations and multiple years of hormone therapy in order to try to win an olympic medal as a female. I think this line of reasoning is clearly nonsense, no world class male swimmer is going to undergo a sex change in hopes of winning a medal.
2) It is unfair to the female competitors to have to compete and potentially lose to a formerly male swimmer, but how is that different from it being unfair to any swimmer to have to swim against someone else who is bigger and stronger than they are? Why is it fair for a woman to win a gold medal when there hypothetically could be one or more male swimmers of equal or lesser stature and equal or lesser muscle mass who are faster? Why is this one physical characteristic treated in such a special manner? I believe it is because women would be discouraged from participating and competing if they had to compete against men (although we all know that many women are faster than many men). Do we really believe that women will not participate and compete because they figure some male to female transexual might beat them in the Olympics? I really doubt it.
So what purpose will be served by excluding transexuals?
ok ok already fish boy ...errr i mean grrl or whatever....gud luk in your persuits of an transgendered world....count me out....and as for competing i think all the cheets have now bin addressed...lets swim instead!!!!!
