"Transgender" refers to people who have had surgery to change their original biological sex. This phenomenon exists in both men and women, but it is more common in men, with a ratio of about 3:1.
As we all know, men have natural advantages over women in terms of physical fitness. Men are stronger, more agile, and have better physical fitness. Therefore, in the field of sports, men's competitions and women's competitions are mostly separated. This is also to ensure the fairness of sports competition.
But with the development of medicine, more and more people have changed their gender through surgery, from male to female and female to male. So the question arises, if a person who has undergone gender reassignment surgery participates in sports competitions, should he participate in competitions of his pre-transition gender or post-transition gender? Due to differences in physiological structure, this debate mainly exists among male-to-female groups.
A supporter of competing as her pre-transgender gender believes that since she is now a woman, there is no doubt that she should compete in the women's category. If you refuse the participation of and , it is sex discrimination. Opponents believe that due to the huge physiological differences between men and women, men are stronger and can hit the ball much faster than women, as well as serve. Although they changed from male to female and their reproductive organs changed, other aspects of their bodies did not change. Their physical abilities are still far superior to the average female tennis player, which is unfair to everyone else.
At the 1977 US Open, Renee Richards made history when she became the first transgender woman to compete in a professional tennis tournament.
Richards continued to play football in the United States and Latin America until his retirement in 1981. Despite being banned from tennis tournaments in Europe, she even reached 20th place in the Women's Tennis Association's world rankings.
After retiring, Richards continued to play tennis, coaching Martina Navratilova and helping her win all four Grand Slam tournaments. After that, she returned to her old profession and became an ophthalmologist.
However, recently, Martina Navratilova, a female student of Richards, published an article in the British Times, objecting to transgender women participating in professional tennis matches. "A man decides to become a woman, he takes some hormones and then goes to compete in women's competitions," she wrote.
"This is crazy and cheating. I would love to talk to a trans woman in any way but I unwilling It's not fair to compete with her on the court."
Due to these comments, a US-based company that develops sports for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has removed Martina Navratilova from her position. She was removed from her advisory board and dismissed as ambassador.
Martina Navratilova has not yet responded to this matter.
Martina Navratilova is a long-time gay rights activist who faced unfair treatment when she came out as gay in the 1980s.
Under guidelines introduced in 2016, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows athletes transitioning from female to male to compete without restrictions.
However, athletes transitioning from male to female must maintain certain levels of testosterone (a hormone that increases muscle mass) for at least 12 months.
What do you think? Welcome to leave a message for discussion. (Source: Tennis Home Author: Luo Xunhuan)
