Gender Verification Testing in Elite Sports- Deep Dive Phase 4 Project

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Famous historical controverises regarding GVT

To understand where were going, we need to grasp why and how we got HERE

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What IS Gender Verification Testing?

OVERVIEW

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Discrimination and inclusivity become a question

Current state of GVT

Current shortfalls in GVT

HISTORICAL Backround

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Should this remain a valid practice in elite sport? Not an easy yes or no.

Furute of GVT: where will we go?

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Controverises in GVT

Mikayla Pohl- PSY 328

Past, present&Future Of Gender Verification Testing in Elite sport

Historical Context and Reasoning for GVT

GVT was started in the early 1940s with the purpose of making sure males were not competing in female sports in disguise since there is thought to be an advantage for men in sport.

1940/50s: Fisrt form of GVT in place. After completeing a visual examination, women would be given "femeninity certificates" and cleared for competition.1967: Barr body test and Buccal smears are utalized by elite sport agencies to test for more than one X chromosme. This is imposed as MANDATORY for female athletes 1990s: Mandatory testing is stopped, shifts to suspicion based testing through extensive medical examinations. A medical delegate before competition can decide to test and athlete at their own discretion. This is mandated for ALL countries before an international competion. 2000: GVT is halted, and stopped for the Sydney olympics, however blood testing for anti-doping regulations are heavily put in place. 2011: Testing for high levels of endogenous testosterone in women is put back into place. Athletes cannot be overt a certain ammount of testosterone if they wish to compete. This is the current standard.

What is the present state of GVT & why is this good/bad?

The current regulations for GVT allow testing at discretion due to suspiscion. Female athletes cannot posses more that 5L/mol of endogenous testosterone. If they do, they can undergo hormone therapy to try and lessen these levels, or they may be banned from competing.

• This poses several questions in regard to human varitey. Some people naturally produce more testosterone, have conditions where they produce more, have transistioned from male to femlae giving naturally higher levels. How will this stark limit impact them?
• Hormone therapy can have impacts on the athlete negatively.
• Is there a more effective way to test for fairness?
• Now having more information then ever on gender and identity versus sex, what will the future of testing look like?

Several controveries from famous athletes demonstrate the use, and potential discrimination GVT can bring

Polish runner Ewa Klobukowska: The FISRT athlete to fail a Gender verification test (1967). She possesed an XX/XXY chromosme and was stripped of her medal and barred fom competing. Spanish hurdler Maria José Martínez-Patiño: upon arrival to a competition did not have her femeninity certificate, and had to undergo a test. She was publicly outed as failing her test, and that she had androgen insesitivity syndrome. She was advised to "quietly retire" but did not such thing. She stood up for herself, one of the first accounts. Middle-distance runner Santhi Soundarajan: An Indian racer who had won 12 medals for her country, had failed a verification test and was stripped of all medals and titles. She was shamed and outsted, and this had led to attempted suicide. South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya: subjected to nonconsensual verification testing in response to public speculation that she was unfairly competing as a women due to higher performance. She was banned in 2009, but reallowed to compete in 2010. Then regulations changed to lower the ammount of testosterone a female may posess to compete, and some think this is direct discrimination on Caster.

Lets be Clear.. What even IS Gender Verification Testing

The process of gender verification testing in elite sport has been an evolving practice, from bodily inspections and physical exams to chromosome testing and testosterone level testing, to confirm that an athlete's sex matches the sex assigned at birth. This aims to ensure individuals are performing in their assigned sex category and don't gain an advantage; "Fair Play".

So where will we go?

There are several ethical concerns aroung GVT. The process of testing is an invasion of privacy and autonomy. testing and banning athletes based off their natural abilities is not fair, but neither is having individuals compete in the same compettion if one can clearly demonstrate an advantage from testosterone. It is also unethical and in some cases unhealthy to subject athletes to hormone therapy, its invasive and changes the body, which some people dont want

However...

Controversy abounds...

Some people argue GVT is necessary to ensure competition is fair, and no one has a biological advantage. Some people are afraid of trangender women competeing for the reasoning of that "it is a man". Controversies currently regarding Lia Tompson(swimming) and Imane Khalief( boxing) demonstrate this fear. Also some peeople with conditions naturally have higher levles of testosterone, and it cant be fair to ban them just for that.

• There has been converstaion since 2015 regarding implemting case-by-case evaluations, rather than one blanket limit of testosterone levels.
• There has been mention of a review board for trnagender and athletes with DSD and anything in that perview
• Most importantly ongoing research to formulate the best way to ensure fair play that does not leave anyone out is a crucial step.