Is there a physiological reason why male to female transsexuals can't compete in women's weightlifting?
Let's assume the following for a moment:
a person grows up as a man, with the matching hormonal profile for his first 20 years
that person then decides to undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for several years
Once the hormonal profile stabilizes to resemble that of a typical female, are there any physiological reasons why that person should not compete in a women's weightlifting competition?
I could imagine that the muscle fibers are already developed during puberty to a certain extent, which would make this unfair for the other competitors, since males probably develop 'better' that way.
Also there's the fact that the male hormone profile influences growth much better than the female profile, making all 'gains' prior to the HRT also an unfair advantage. Although, biological women can take steroids, so that's not a good reason.
Please note: I do see why the sexes should compete seperately and I'm not fighting that notion right now. I'm also aware of several practical reasons for not allowing this. Please refrain from answers citing those reasons.
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Yes, biological women can take steroids, but technically, most of the body-building competitions do drug testing and ban steroids. It's followed about as seriously as it is for professional wrestling entertainers, but it's on the books. Thus, they cannot allow MTF competitors because there's really no way those people would pass the test.
This is a question that has been addressed by many governing bodies.
The NCAA policy (page 13) is that MTF transgender athletes can compete after a year of living with their new, lowered-testosterone hormonal profile:
A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men's team but may not compete on a women's team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.
...
A trans female (MTF) transgender student-athlete who is not taking hormone treatments related to gender transition may not compete on a women’s team.
The International Olympic Committee has a similar but more stringent policy, extending the hormone-transition requirement to two years and requiring surgery and political recognition:
The IOC advisory group recommended that individuals undergoing sex reassignment after puberty could compete, but only under certain conditions.
Surgical changes must have been completed, including external genitalia changes and removal of gonads.
Legal recognition of their assigned sex must have been conferred by appropriate official authorities.
Hormone therapy -- for the assigned sex -- must have been given for long enough to minimize any gender-related advantages in sport competitions, a period that must be at least two years after gonadectomy.
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