There are no winners in transgender sport
The participation of transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard in the world weightlifting championships this week brings into focus a well-meaning piece of human rights legislation that will almost certainly have serious consequences.
Hubbard, the child of former Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard, previously competed as Gavin Hubbard before transitioning. A decent New Zealand male weightlifter, who did not come close to making the senior grade globally, she is now competing at the very top level as a woman. She is 39 years of age.
In Rio, 24 was the average age of the Olympic gold and silver medallists in weightlifting. The oldest medallist of any hue was 32. And yet at 39 Hubbard is defying this trend towards younger winners. How?
Weightlifting is already a sport rife with pharmaceutical enhancement. Nine countries, including China and Russia, are banned from these championships because of systemic doping violations. North Korea won a gold and two silvers in Rio and may regard human modification as a route to more success.
We know what the Eastern Bloc did to its sports men and women during the Cold War era. Shot put champion Heidi Krieger was given so many drugs that she lost her femininity and now lives as a man called Andreas. Hundreds of others are now dead, or living ruined lives.
The way to Olympic success was once to turn women into men by pumping young girls full of testosterone. It now appears that the opposite may be true. Turning men into women could be the new way to Olympic gold.
This is all desperately unfair on Hubbard. A GP I spoke to, who has had two patients request transgender surgery, said; ‘‘It is a lifelong fixation which demands unbelievable resilience and singlemindedness. Both made me stop and sort of admire their doggedness to keep going.
‘‘I almost envy such a dedication, such a passion. Life can be easier when there is one direction to pursue. But it can also lead to tragedy. Depression is often close to the surface. Relationships suffer. It’s a personal battle that is so unusual and I fully accept it.’’
But the doctor also acknowledged that ‘‘It is totally reasonable to suppose that it may lead to muscular advantages over other women.’’ And that is the problem that Hubbard’s competitors are potentially facing.
The New Zealand athlete has been selected for next year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. The Commonwealth charter, which is in line with New Zealand’s own governing bodies, states; ‘‘We promote fairness, nondiscrimination and inclusion.’’
But in the case of Hubbard and other transgender athletes who have moved from men to women, that statement is not mutually compatible. These transgender athletes have to satisfy a number of requirements, most particularly low testosterone levels. But both of the doctors to whom I spoke confirmed there would likely be other residual advantages.
One of the cases against athletes returning after doping bans is that their bodies retain some of the muscle advantages derived from their years of doping. In the case of men who have become women, they almost certainly retain some of those same muscle advantages as well as a skeletal frame that they would not have had if born a woman.
Imagine if tennis player Ivo Karlovic felt he was a woman trapped in a male body, and so transitioned to a woman. She would then have a 21cm height advantage over the tallest of the top women. What sort of service edge would that give her? Imagine if Dustin Johnson felt his genuine gender identity was as a woman? I know someone who played a transgender woman of similar height to Johnson at golf and she drove nearly all the par fours from the women’s tees.
Hubbard’s competitors all perceive that she has a similarly unnatural advantage due to her transition. Iuniarra Sipaia, the Samoan 90kg weightlifter who lost to Hubbard in Australia, said, ‘‘I felt that it was unfair ... It only changed the physical side but her emotions, her strength and everything is still a male.’’
Tracey Lambrechs, the New Zealand weightlifter who had to shift down a weight category because of Hubbard, also used the word unfair. Tim Swords, the coach of Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Robles, said it was not fair. So did an Australian competitor.
None of this story is ‘‘fair’’. Trans New Zealanders face all kinds of discrimination, including what a 2008 Human Rights Commission report described as ‘‘constant harassment and vicious assault’’. Many will spend most of the rest of their lives in a body they struggle to recognise. Surgery is very expensive and Peter Walker, New Zealand’s lone specialist, retired a couple of years ago. It does not seem fair.
And that is another question the authorities doubtless won’t ask themselves. Are they discriminating against the poor? Are they being unfair to those who can’t afford surgery which can cost over $100,000. Laurel Hubbard comes from a wealthy family. What about those far less fortunate who are on a waiting list that may take 50 years?
The New Zealand Human Rights Commission says there is no valid reason to exclude trans women from competitive women’s sports. What about all the dedicated young women weightlifters who now feel they are unfairly discriminated against? What about all the unhappy young men and women who wonder if they will ever be able to afford the operation in this country?
It is such a sad and complex area.