Ignorance Continues in the Sports World
BRYAN ALBARRAN Copy Editor
In the modern age, the idea of sexual fluidity has become popular amongst certain people, bleeding its way into many aspects of today’s media. The inability to accept this new concept exists in one of the largest aspects of American culture, sports. Although the idea of sexual fluidity is seemingly new, various sports organizations have been reluctant to respect those who decide to change their sexual identity. One organization, known as the IAAF or the International Association of Athletics Foundation, displayed such reluctance by placing their focus on a female Track & Field athlete, Caster Semenya.
Semenya is mainly known for being a middle-distance runner who won the gold medal at the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics. After she won gold at the 2009 Berlin world championships, many questions were posed about the gender of Semenya. Due to the rumors, the IAAF made it mandatory for Semenya to be subjected to gender verification tests to confirm her sexual identity and in turn, prevented her from running any events during 2009 and 2010. In that same year, the IAAF created new rules, which some say targeted Semenya specifically, to place a regulation on an individual’s testosterone level.
Semenya spoke out in court against the regulations since it prevented those who suffer from hyperandrogenism, those who are born with elevated testosterone and athletes who have recently gone through gender reassignment. Surprisingly, athletes have began to speak out against athletes like Semenya or transgender individuals and in turn, have given light on the fact that many people in today’s society refuse to accept the ideology of sexual reassignment. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova was one athlete who spoke out against transgender women or men in sports by stating that they should not participate in the sport whatsoever. “It’s insane and it’s cheating,” Navratilova said. “I am happy to address a transgender woman in whatever form she prefers, but I would not be happy to compete against her. It would not be fair.” Although transgender athletes may have a natural biological advantage over their competition, it gives no justification to the discrimination these athletes face on and off the field.
If large sports organizations, such as the IAAF, want to clear the issues surrounding transgender athletes, it should be done quietly and should not target a single athlete. The ignorance in the actions of the IAAF does not exist in the fact that they refuse to acknowledge transgender athletes, but in the fact that they have decided to ignore the issues surrounding them and then, decide to wake up and ruin a single athlete’s career and reputation amongst her own sport.