Transgender Star in Brazil Has an Eye on History
SÃO CAETANO DO SUL, Brazil — When Tifanny Abreu slammed the volleyball over the net, her ponytail flying, most spectators at a recent game moaned: another point for the visitors. But not everyone was rooting against her.
Even when Ms. Abreu travels with her team to away games, she often has fans cheering her on. This game, played more than 320 kilometers from her team’s home base, was no exception. Supporters wore pink to celebrate a woman who is now among Brazil’s most talked about, and controversial, athletes.
One of the top-ranked players in Brazil’s professional Superliga, the premier women’s volleyball league, Ms. Abreu is transgender, which has made her a polarizing figure. For her fans, she is an inspiration.
“If it weren’t for Tifanny, I couldn’t even be here,” said Julia Bueno, a young transgender woman, who was watching Ms. Abreu’s team, Vôlei Bauru, compete this month against the hometown club in São Caetano do Sul in São Paulo State. Ms. Bueno added, “She is doing so much for us, so we want to do something for her, too.”
Volleyball is the second- most popular sport in Brazil, after soccer, and millions tune in for big games.
Ms. Abreu, 33, is the first transgender volleyball player to make it to Brazil’s top ranks. If she qualifies for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo — which experts say is probable — she would be making history as one of the first openly transgender athletes to participate. The 2020 Games are expected to be the first in which openly transgender athletes will compete, though guidelines on hormone levels have been in place since early 2016.
Brazil is a powerhouse in volleyball and the women’s national team has twice won Olympic gold, in 2008 and 2012.
“I’d like to go to the Olympics,” said Ms. Abreu, who is 1.9 meters tall. “It’s not going to happen just because I’m getting all this attention.”
Ms. Abreu says she is trying to limit her media exposure after her success gave rise to debate about whether male-to-female transitions give athletes an unfair advantage. After joining the women’s professional league last year, Ms. Abreu’s performance caught the nation’s attention. In less than a month, she was scoring the highest number of points a game on average. And in January, she beat the record set by one of Brazil’s Olympic stars, Tandara Caixeta, for total points scored in a single game: 39 (a record Ms. Caixeta has since matched).
Ms. Caixeta has helped fuel the debate about transgender athletes. “I really respect her and her history,” Ms. Caixeta said after her record was broken. “But I don’t agree with her participating in the feminine Superliga. It’s a very delicate issue.”
Ms. Abreu, a spiker, began playing at the age of 17 and made it to the men’s professional leagues in Europe. Toward the end of her time there, she took the name Tifanny.
Before leaving Europe, she un- derwent sex reassignment surgery and began hormone replacement treatment. As her transition was starting, a debate in the sports world about athletes like Ms. Abreu began to shift in her favor.
In 2016, the International Olympic Committee allowed transgenders to compete without undergoing sex reassignment surgery.
Male-to-female transgender athletes are required to reduce the testosterone in their blood to below 10 nanomoles per liter. Typical values for women are 0.5 to 3.0 nanomoles per liter. Ms. Abreu lowered her levels to 0.2 nanomoles.
For Hairton Cabral, the coach of a rival team from São Caetano do Sul, the solution is more studies. “For coaches, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s legal — we just want the best performers. But the whole issue is very politicized, and the only way to stop that is with facts.”