Unfair or Discriminatory? Deciding the fate of trans-female athletes

By Grace Pointner

Is it fair for a man to beat up a woman? Is it fair to prohibit someone from doing what they love, just because of a past issue? These are questions that transgender supporters and transgender critics are asking themselves as they decide whether or not trans-athletes should be allowed to compete against the gender that they’ve reassigned to.

Regardless of how many surgeries they’ve undergone to change their physical and chemical makeup, is it ethical for a person who was born a man to race against a woman? Or box against a woman? Conversely, are females (men who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery) forever banned from sports because of their sexual orientation?

As a transgender athlete herself, Fallon Fox has things to say on the topic. Fox competes as a female mixed martial arts fighter (MMA) and found herself to be successful in this sport early on.

Although never intentionally hiding that fact that she is transgender, she didn’t publicly come out right away. She wanted her career to be about fighting, not about her sexuality. And with the sometimes negative connotations the term “transgender” carries, Fox stayed away from revealing her past so soon. But, “You just can’t go through life with a microscope on your career without someone delving into your past a little bit” Fox commented in an interview with The Guardian.

So, Fox “came out” on outsports.com in 2013, changing the face of her career forever.

Now, all of Fox’s wins are questioned and scathing articles are written about her. She’s condemned as a woman beater and a cheat while her fellow competitors refuse to fight her.

In response to this, Fox solicited doctors and scientists to support her theory that, through enough hormone treatment and cosmetic surgery, muscle strength and bone mass will decrease and thus level the playing field between born females and trans-females. Furthermore, the nature of sports is that individual competitors will have their own advantages. Some women are taller than other women; some have longer limbs, stronger muscles or quicker feet. This does not exclude them from sports? So why does a hormonal difference?

With science seemingly on her side, Fox continues battling against those that still view trans-females in sports as unethical or unfair.

There is another side to the story, however, often voiced by female born athletes like Ronda Rousey, a fellow MMA champion who has fought against Fallon Fox herself. Like Fox, Rousey has solicited science to back up her opinion on the matter.

Ph.D. Alison Heather, argues that muscle memory, heart size, lung capacity and, even some muscle mass cannot be completely made equal to that of a biological woman. More importantly, testosterone levels cannot be exactly matched either. This is a problem because new rules state that trans-females can compete with a testosterone level of 10 NMO/L but “a CIS female (a born female) can reach nowhere near the testosterone level of 10 NMOL/L. The average female sits at 2.8 NMOL/L and the average male 23-25 NMOL/L.” Thus, although trans-females contain significantly less testosterone than they were born with, they still hold more than born females. This gives trans-females an advantage!

Additionally, some trans-females have opened up that their sex-reassignment surgery was purely cosmetic and does little to change their thoughts or normal body functions. Andrea Long Chu

So, with two convincing sides, how does one discern the correct one? Is there a correct side? Or will the answer forever be subjective, ambiguous and reliant on scientific discoveries yet to be made? Perhaps—but for now, we must at least hear both sides, acknowledge the personal feelings involved, and seek to understand each other’s opinions while simultaneously separating opinion from fact.

Homeschooler in the Real World

Emma Folts, a sophomore at Wheaton College, shares her experience about her transition into college and how homeschool has both helped and hindered her.
How has your homeschool experience benefitted you, especially in your transition into college?
I think the one thing that homeschooling did that was really helpful as I entered college was that it taught me time management. As a homeschooler I had the same freedom as a college student has to put things off during the day and go see a friend instead. Since I had that experience, I knew the cost of that.
Also, personal responsibility and accountability with assignments. I feel like a lot of the other students had more expectations for gentler grading and that the professor would give them retakes or extensions, but that wasn’t something that ever happened to me in school. That learning curve wasn’t added because I never had it the other way. I think another thing was that because I was homeschooled, I was familiar with the format of teaching and then studying on my own.
Did you see any issues with your transition socially?
I think that homeschooling had two ramifications for me socially. One was helpful, one was hurtful.
It was really helpful because as a homeschooler, I had spent a lot of time realizing and developing who I was as a person and learning to recognize people who were being themselves, and those were the people I sought out as friends. Friendship as a homeschooler takes a lot more investment. I knew I was choosier with my friends which made me a lot less anxious and a lot more content.
The only real negative impact of the social bit was that I was really used to getting to choose the time I got to spend with people. As a homeschooler I spent a lot of time with people, but that time was controlled by me. As a college student, I found that you can’t really control the time you spend with people and alone time is not really available. Learning to deal with that was a lot harder than anticipated.
Any last comments on homeschool and how it has affected your college experience?
I think homeschooling is really helpful, however it does take a slightly increased amount of advocacy with your peers when you’re entering into college. I think a lot of people come in with certain assumptions about homeschool, especially students. You’re going to get a lot of, ‘oh my gosh, you don’t seem like a homeschooled person!’ [You can’t] take that too personally and explain your experience so that friends can understand it’s an important piece of you, though it might not look like the homeschooling that they’ve seen.
My encouragement to anyone who is a homeschooler transitioning into college is to realize the benefit that you have having been homeschooled, and to realize that the bit of advocacy and explaining that you need to do with your peers is totally normal and that it’s not a big deal. Once they understand your experience, it’s not something I’ve experienced being looked down on for.