Benefits of testosterone questioned

Sport New Zealand’s draft principles for transgender athletes describe research into the benefits of testosterone for transgender women athletes as ‘‘unsettled’’.

This statement runs counter to an open letter sent this week by more than 40 former Olympic and elite athletes to Minster of Sport Grant Robertson, asking for an extension to the guiding principles’ consultation period.

The letter, backed by Save Women’s Sport Australasia, said there was ‘‘unequivocal evidence’’ trans women had a ‘‘performance advantage’’ over female competitors, even after hormonal intervention and ‘‘women’s rights have been disregarded in the draft principles’’.

Sport New Zealand has been working on the ‘‘complex issue’’ since November.

Draft guiding principles were sent out for further consultation in April and have been obtained by Stuff.

‘‘There is some research relating to the impact of testosterone on the sporting performance of transgender women. The research is unsettled. There are a diverse and varied range of factors that impact on sporting ability and prowess,’’ the document said.

At an Olympic level, transgender athletes must have less than 10 nanomols of testosterone per litre of blood for at least 12 months before competition. In French rugby, which recently allowed transgender athletes to participate in its women’s competition, it’s five nanomols.

Former elite athlete Kristen Worley, a New Zealander based in Canada, has been working with the International Olympic Committee on its transgender guidelines for the past 18 months and is considered an expert in trans experience in sport. She said the reduction of hormones and ‘‘sex reassignment’’ could have a ‘‘catastrophic impact’’ on the body of transgender people.

‘‘Under the current rules ... this is just above the level [of testosterone] where the body starts to fail. It’s like taking the gas out of the car,’’ she told Stuff.

‘‘There is this challenge with transgender individuals ... because of where their hormone levels are, over several years there’s a decrease of their physiology. Someone, like in my case who has transitioned ... it’s immediate. It’s a bottom line bail out because there are no hormones in my body.’’

She acknowledges the concerns of the former athletes, and said although Sport NZ had ‘‘good intentions’’, more work needed to be done on the ‘‘problematic’’ guidelines.

Professor Holly Thorpe, from School of Health at the University of Waikato, said there was more to the discussion than just testosterone.

‘‘To think about sex and gender solely in relation to one particular hormone is oversimplifying understandings of human bodies, performances, and ethics.’’

Thorpe said many in the wider discussion were ‘‘cherry-picking’’ research that ‘‘centralise physiological interpretations of testosterone, without considering the ethical, social or political realities of sporting performances’’.

‘‘Underpinning such ‘science’, is the assumption that transgender athletes are trying to ‘cheat’ the system, and as such, I see such studies as being at risk of transphobia,’’ she said.

Robertson said: ‘‘I back Sport NZ in what they are doing because I believe sport is so intrinsic to who we are as people and I want everyone to have the chance to participate.’’