{"id":194246,"date":"2023-11-07T13:45:46","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T13:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=194246"},"modified":"2023-11-07T13:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T13:45:46","slug":"transgender-rider-challenges-usa-cyclings-new-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/11\/07\/transgender-rider-challenges-usa-cyclings-new-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Transgender Rider Challenges USA Cycling\u2019s New Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The civil rights of transgender individuals \u2013 people whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth, or trans for short \u2013 has been a thorny issue ever since they and others in the LGBTQ+ community began demanding equal rights under the law. Some of the specific issues have been especially contentious, such as what public restroom should a trans female \u2013 \u00a0a man who now identifies as a woman \u2013 be able to use, the men\u2019s or the women\u2019s?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The broader issue has also become a problem in sports, especially when a trans female enters a women\u2019s competition, because although that individual may have undergone hormonal treatment or even surgery to have a body appropriate to their gender identity, male physical advantages including size, strength and muscle mass usually put non-trans women at a big competitive disadvantage.<\/p>\n

When in May of this year transgender cyclist Austin Killips won the women\u2019s Tour of the Gila<\/a>, a UCI Tour of America 2.2 stage race held annually in New Mexico, it sparked a significant social-media uproar. For example, former MTB cross-country world champion Alison Sydor tweeted: \u201cThe current UCI rules that allow males to compete in female cycling events are not fair to female athletes. Time for UCI to admit this current rule situation is unsustainable and leaving a black mark on cycling as a fair sport for females.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UCI reacted. As a result, starting on\u00a0 July 17, 2023, \u201cfemale transgender athletes who have transitioned after puberty will be prohibited from participating in women’s events on the UCI International Calendar \u2013 in all categories \u2013 in the various disciplines,\u201d cycling\u2019s governing body said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>
Killips is the first transgender woman to win a major race. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But that had no effect on most US cycling competitions. USA Cycling was forced to react when, in May, the talented cyclocross rider Hannah Arensman announced her retirement<\/a> from the sport because she had finished fourth, with a female trans rider beating her to the podium, in the 2022 US National Championships in December. She said that it \u201chas become increasingly discouraging to train as hard as I do only to have to lose to a man with the unfair advantage of an androgenized body that intrinsically gives him an obvious advantage over me, no matter how hard I train.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, USA Cycling\u2019s attempt<\/a> to find a regulatory solution has stirred up another controversy. But this time it was a transgender cyclist who protested. “Outing ourselves for amateur sanctioned racing does not make us feel safe or welcome,\u201d said the cyclist, whose identity has been withheld for her protection. \u201cInstead, it shines an uninvited bright light on our private life, further threatening our safety, as well as our rights on a federal and state level. This rule change creates an exclusionary environment, sets a dangerous precedent and opens a Pandora’s box for organized amateur sports with transgender athletes.\u201d She has filed a complaint with the state’s Attorney General’s Office, asking Attorney General Bob Ferguson to file an injunction against USA Cycling. She also filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.<\/p>\n

The solution put forward by USA Cycling, called the Transgender Athlete Participation Policy<\/a>, aligns the body with UCI regulations for international competitions, in that it prohibits female trans riders from participating in those events. For non-UCI-sanctioned events, the body has come up with a two-tiered system that it says aims to find a balance between fairness and inclusivity.<\/p>\n

Without going into the full complexity of the plan, we can say that it forces trans athletes to complete a detailed evaluation process. Starting on January 1, athletes will be divided into Group A and Group B. Group A athletes, who are those racing in Pro, Category 1 or Category 2 competitions, must undergo an \u201celite athletic fairness evaluation application\u201d<\/a> 90 days before a competition and demonstrate with medical documentation that their testosterone level has been consistently at a prescribed level for at least 24 months. The requirements for Group B athletes, who compete at the lower levels, including Novice, are significantly less demanding.<\/p>\n

The female trans rider protesting against this new protocol was active in racing in the state of Washington for four years and said that during that time “no individual, organization or local USAC official harassed or required me to out myself, nor was a complaint filed against me. Many people were aware that I was transgender because it is a small community. I trained just as hard as other female athletes and still did not have a competitive advantage. In fact, most of the time, I rarely finished in the top three in Cat[egory] 4 races.\u201d<\/p>\n

It remains a difficult issue and the various bodies regulating cycling and other sports have almost certainly not found the optimal solution yet. In the US, the new policy has not put an end to the controversy. For example, in October the female trans cyclocross rider Jenna Lingwood won several races. The tweet<\/a> announcing those victories was met with widespread outrage and mockery.<\/p>\n

In July of this year, after the UCI introduced its new trans regulations, retired American Olympics cyclist Inga Thompson spoke to Cycling Weekly<\/a> about the UCI policy and the issue in general, and described the problem very succinctly. \u201cWe have to find a way to have fairness for women and fairness for transgender women,\u201d she said, \u201cand to acknowledge the biological differences between the two.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are clearly not there yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The civil rights of transgender individuals \u2013 people whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":194249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[7452,3829,7418,7453],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-194246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-austin-killips","tag-cycling-equality","tag-inclusivity-in-cycling","tag-transgender-athlete-participation-policy","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nTransgender Rider Challenges USA Cycling\u2019s New Policy - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The civil rights of transgender individuals \u2013 people whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth, or trans for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/11\/07\/transgender-rider-challenges-usa-cyclings-new-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transgender Rider Challenges USA Cycling\u2019s New Policy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The civil rights of transgender individuals \u2013 people whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth, or trans for\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/11\/07\/transgender-rider-challenges-usa-cyclings-new-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-07T13:45:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2023\/11\/Austin-Killips-profimedia-0750910709-CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siegfried Mortkowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/11\/07\/transgender-rider-challenges-usa-cyclings-new-policy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/11\/07\/transgender-rider-challenges-usa-cyclings-new-policy\/\",\"name\":\"Transgender Rider Challenges USA Cycling\u2019s New Policy - 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