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I totally agree with this.
It is a tough call and I've little to no time for those who call Caster Semenya a cheat.
There is a conflict of rights.
The rights of Semenya and others with her DSD and the rights of the women like Lynsey Sharp, against whom she competes. https://twitter.com/intersexfacts/status/1304051637699436544
It is a tough call and I've little to no time for those who call Caster Semenya a cheat.
There is a conflict of rights.
The rights of Semenya and others with her DSD and the rights of the women like Lynsey Sharp, against whom she competes. https://twitter.com/intersexfacts/status/1304051637699436544
The ruling which prevents Semenya running in any races from 400m - 1500m, including her 800m speciality in which she's won two Olympic Gold medals and multiple other titles, is described as *proportionate discrimination* for the purpose of maintaining fairness in women's sport.
A few starters:
It *is* discrimination.
The remedy, to medicate for lower testosterone, is unconscionable.
There is no medical requirement for the treatment. Nobody should be unnecedsaily required to take powerful drugs as a prerequisite for rights, in sport or anything else.
It *is* discrimination.
The remedy, to medicate for lower testosterone, is unconscionable.
There is no medical requirement for the treatment. Nobody should be unnecedsaily required to take powerful drugs as a prerequisite for rights, in sport or anything else.
So the real question: is it proportionate to exclude Semenya and others?
Well, not on grounds of having male chromosomes. Others - androgen insensitive - are not excluded, and that must be right.
Not on grounds of elevated testosterone, either. Women - PCOS - are not.
Well, not on grounds of having male chromosomes. Others - androgen insensitive - are not excluded, and that must be right.
Not on grounds of elevated testosterone, either. Women - PCOS - are not.
That too must be right.
It is the 'both' bit that condemns Semenya. She is genetically, biologically male and she produces - and responds- to testosterone in 'male range', with effect on muscle mass, oxygen absorption and so on, since puberty.
It is the 'both' bit that condemns Semenya. She is genetically, biologically male and she produces - and responds- to testosterone in 'male range', with effect on muscle mass, oxygen absorption and so on, since puberty.
So rests the case for her exclusion.
The case for inclusion is also strong. She may be genetically and biologically male but her sexual development has been quite different from other males. She has a DSD. She has internal testes but she does not have male external genitalia.
The case for inclusion is also strong. She may be genetically and biologically male but her sexual development has been quite different from other males. She has a DSD. She has internal testes but she does not have male external genitalia.
At birth she was assigned female - one of the rare cases we can use that phrase accurately. And in later life she passed the intrusive female sex tests.
She was told she was female. She believed she was female.
She was socialised as a girl.
She was denied access to male ...
She was told she was female. She believed she was female.
She was socialised as a girl.
She was denied access to male ...
... privileges, including nutritional privileges, educational privileges and economic privileges.
The resources that she was able to access were those afforded to women and girls, not those which men and boys take for granted.
And that includes sports resources: facilities ...
The resources that she was able to access were those afforded to women and girls, not those which men and boys take for granted.
And that includes sports resources: facilities ...
coaching, funding, development programmes.
If its not fair for her to compete with the women, it's not fair for her to compete with the men, either. They've had advantages over her that they enjoy over all women.
And she has the right to compete.
If its not fair for her to compete with the women, it's not fair for her to compete with the men, either. They've had advantages over her that they enjoy over all women.
And she has the right to compete.
When Caster Semenya, emerging as an elite athlete, took up places in the girls training programmes, she wasnt cheating, She wasnt denying a place to another girl.
She didn't know she had a DSD. Nor did you know. Nor did they know.
She was just a talented young athlete.
She didn't know she had a DSD. Nor did you know. Nor did they know.
She was just a talented young athlete.
After she found out, as a young adult, has she been taking a woman's place on the podium?
Yes.
But I think it would be *disproportionate* to ask her now to stop. To exclude her from her own lifes journey.
The IAAF have tried to make it proportionate.
Yes.
But I think it would be *disproportionate* to ask her now to stop. To exclude her from her own lifes journey.
The IAAF have tried to make it proportionate.
Take the drugs, they say.
But that's an awful rule.
Without it, the balance tips.
There are scores of young women who will not become champions in middle distance running in consequence.
But the alternative is to tell intersex women they have no place in sport. Not with the
But that's an awful rule.
Without it, the balance tips.
There are scores of young women who will not become champions in middle distance running in consequence.
But the alternative is to tell intersex women they have no place in sport. Not with the
men, not with the women.
And they won't be told until after they are 18, after a decade's dedication.
For me, that's a greater injustice and the balance in this particular conflict of rights must fall to reduce it.
And they won't be told until after they are 18, after a decade's dedication.
For me, that's a greater injustice and the balance in this particular conflict of rights must fall to reduce it.
Meanwhile, the far greater injustice to female women athletes without DSDs is the continuing level of state and coach sponsored doping in middle distance running.
If we want to level the playing field, let's get that out the way first.
If we want to level the playing field, let's get that out the way first.
