The discussion on the inclusion of transgender people in sport has two basic positions, each accentuating different arguments. One focuses on biology, emphasizing how the increase in testosterone levels in boys during puberty, which drives biological and morphological changes, is the lead cause of major performance differences between biological men and women. And because of these differences, it is necessary to uphold a category for women protected against male biology. The other emphasizes the connection between identity and rights and stresses that sport cannot carve out its own separate space when society at large recognizes legal identity as key in societal matters. Therefore, transgender athletes have a right to participate in the category of the gender they identify with. As such, the discussion is a struggle over science, rights, and the proper understanding of what sport is and ought to be.
Since 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has moved...