Transgender weightlifter about to make historical Olympic entry7 min read

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A weightlifter named Laurel Hubbard from New Zealand is about to make history by becoming the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. This move is also set to reignite a debate that has gone on for years over allowing trans persons to compete in the global sporting event, but let’s get to that later.

Do you know what it means to be a trans person? Let’s cover some basics first, like sex and gender, which though often confused with each other, are extremely different.

Sex: It is biological and assigned at birth as either female, male or intersex (neither male nor female). The last is not always determined at birth, and may only be recognised at the time of puberty.

Gender: This is what we identify as – boy/girl, male/female – and is not assigned at birth. Gender is more about how we feel than what we look like biologically.

Now that we know the difference between gender and sex, let’s understand what it means to be transgender. We now know that gender doesn’t have to do with what biological parts we are assigned at birth, but rather on how we feel in our heads and hearts. One’s sex can be female, but they don’t necessarily have to feel like a woman or identify as one. The same is true for males. This, is what we call being transgendered.

A transgirl is when you may biologically born a male, but identify as a girl (transitioning to a girl). A transboy is when you may biologically born a female, but identify as a boy (transitioning to a boy).

These persons want to express how they truly feel, and some times, choose to change from the gender they were assigned at birth. This could include changing their name, sense of style or dressing, or even consult a medical expert to take hormones and/or surgery.

Getting back to Hubbard – the 43-year-old was born male but transitioned to a woman in her 30s. Hubbard has earlier competed as a male, and only officially became eligible to compete in the women’s category after testing for testosterone levels below what is required by the International Olympic Committee. Testoterone is the hormone found in males, so it was important to test these levels before allowing Hubbard to compete with women. Hubbard is aiming to contest in the women’s +87kg category – an event in which she in currently ranked 16^th in the world.

The names of the members going from New Zealand to Tokyo are yet to be announced, but officials said Hubbard was likely to qualify.

The male-female debate

Unfortunately, not all in the sporting world have been so welcoming of Hubbard. The debate over allowing trans person to take part in such sporting events has been a sensitive issue- here’s why.

This debate revolves around the impact of biological differences in males and females on sporting abilities. People who oppose transgender women competing in women’s sports say that they are given an unfair advantage over cisgender women (women who identify with the sex assigned to them at birth) due to higher testosterone levels and skeletal, muscle and fat distribution differences. Testosterone regulates many different functions in the body, including the maintenance of bone and muscle mass. Women make about 1/10^th or 1/20^th the amount of testosterone men make.

In fact, when Hubbard was about the compete in the Commonwealth Games in 2018, she was almost barred by the Australian Weightlifting Federation. They argued that she had a physical advantage over female-born athletes, regardless of the levels of testosterone in her body.  

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Sources: Firstpost, sexedrescue.com