In a vote, which was 71.5% in favour of a new policy, during its extraordinary general congress 2022 in Budapest – the World swimming’s governing body FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DE NATATION -FINA disclosed it has banned transgender women from competing in women’s events, starting Monday.
FINA members widely adopted a new “gender inclusion policy” on Sunday that only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. The organization also proposed an “open competition category.”
In a statement, FINA President Husain Al-Musallam through his spokesperson James Pearce, said that “This is not saying that people are encouraged to transition by the age of 12. It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair,” he added.
The decision was the aftermath of a report to the world swimming body Congress from representatives of a working group that was set up in November 2021 consisting of three specialist groups – an athlete group, a science and medicine group, and a legal and human rights group.
According to FINA, the new policy will become applicable at all FINA events, as well as in the ratification of who becomes a world record holder wherever the competition took place.
Pearce, during his briefing confirmed there are currently no transgender women competing in elite levels of swimming, he however cautioned that the swimming federation was not saying everyone should transition by age 11 but added that what FINA is saying is that it is not feasible for people who have transitioned to compete without having an advantage.
FINA said it plans to spend the next six weeks to fine tuning part of the 24-page policy document to be able to accommodate a new category tagged “open competition” which would mean more events for the global swimming federation
FINA’s “deeply discriminatory, harmful, unscientific” new policy has been said not to be inline with (the IOC‘s) framework on fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations,” Anne Lieberman of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ athletes, a statement has reveal.
“The eligibility criteria for the women’s category as it is laid out in the policy (will) police the bodies of all women, and will not be enforceable without seriously violating the privacy and human rights of any athlete looking to compete in the women’s category,” Lieberman said.
FINA said it recognizes “that some individuals and groups may be uncomfortable with the use of medical and scientific terminology related to sex and sex-linked traits (but) some use of sensitive terminology is needed to be precise about the sex characteristics that justify separate competition categories.
The World Professional Association for Transgender Health just lowered its recommended minimum age for starting gender transition hormone treatment to 14 and some surgeries to 15 or 17.
