http://news.bbc.co.uk/spo[...]471.stm

Just thought that the above may be of interest.

Wasnt there a transsexual tenis player back in the 60s or somin. Its a distant memory recall and just remembering a black and white photo so am guessing at 60s.

addition...

i found an article on it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/w[...]ichards

addition...
the article reads that the new york supreme court ruled infavour for renee richards to compete in the womens division.

My god what planet do you live on Wendy? The World Athletics Championship in Berlin is still on, I saw this girl win the 800m gold meddle last night, a few days ago I watched Usain Bolt smash the 100m world record and tonight he will probably do the same to the 200m record! There are a very large number of talented American athletes taking part, surely one of your TV channels or at least news services are covering it?
With regards to Caster Semenya I think her treatment by the IAAF is dreadful, the doubts about her gender should have remained confidential until after the games were finished and evidence provided to prove her gender is not as she says. She won the gold meddle but her celebrations were muted by the pressure of these allegations, the press were only interested in this scandal (if there even is one?) rather than her wonderful achievement.
This does raise one question though, Are all transsexuals banned from international competition? Are they also banned from local competitions, where do you draw the line?

Huggles

Becca

I hope for her sakes that the finding of any tests pronounce her innocent of deception, and that any misunderstandings have arisen from a lack of education or genuine naivety. That finding may also encourage a sympathetic response from the public. Unfortunately, if deception had been intended, she will not be able to outrun the journalists or cameras. I hope that the IAAF are absolutely supportive if the former is the case, because they should never have encouraged her participation - and her loss of privacy, if they had concerns beforehand.

Hi All,
Wether a ggirl or a tsgirl How many of us could handle the "shark attack" mode
that todays media operates in.

MichelleLynn

I can't fathom that.
I think I'll go and watch the athletics.

Becca

Interesting article. Not the first such gender issue to be raised in the last year in sports.

I will comment that the writer of the article would do better to state WHERE the story took place. Though Berlin and South Africa were mentioned, nowhere does it actually state where the competition took place. Basic story requirements. Who, What, When, Where, Why. I had to spend ten minutes researching the article to determine the competition had taken place in Berlin.

I have added the article to our transgender news feed as I feel it is significant in terms of world perceptions of gender issues.

This isn't actually the first time that gender has raised it's head in athletics, gender testing was conducted decades ago because the former Soviet Union were found to be putting transsexuals into womens's sports. I say 'transsexuals' but in fact that isn't really a true reflection of them, a more accurate reflection would be 'someone who has had a sex change', since the USSR wanted to retain the benefits of having a woman with heaps of testosterone coursing through her body, the advantages are obvious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w[...]_sports

Personally, I think it's a complicated issue today. On the one hand I don't feel it is right to have a transsexual in a 'women's' event because of the reasons given above, however, (before you flame me), perhaps the true test should relate to the amount of male hormones retained by the body which would give an obvious and unfair advantage. For example, if results of blood tests are found to be within the same tolerances as any other females, then I don't see that there is any cause for complaint or cries of 'foul play'.

Nikki

It's nice to see that one of the biggest concerns and uproars about this case is not the ambiguity over her gender, but rather the way it is being handled, i.e leaked to the media who are having a (no pun intended), field day with it. It's wrong. It should have all been undertaken behind closed doors and only if the result was found to be against her should it have been made public.

Nikki

renee richards is the old tennis player and very much a male body despite hormones and sex change...lot of upset at time on lines of male physique giving unfair advantage...the east germans of the 70's suddenly won loads of Olympic golds by fielding girls who had been given testo to bulk up...the girls thought it was steroids but the effect of the two are different...the girls developed male facial features as well as the muscles.
why the fuss over the latest athlete is a mystery but if males are faster, stronger, bigger than females then really there ought to be some basic check done to ensure that competition is fair...but check what? genitals, chromosomes, lifestyle etc...?
Its a can of worms that perhaps needs sorting.

Rebecca,

I live in a world where I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in spectator sports. I cannot fathom the desire to sit and watch somebody else have fun playing a sport. I did, however, know Renee Richards without prompting.

I have read, in the last year, material on sports organizations determining gender for purposes of competing. This included IS persons. The determination was made very intelligently based on the individuals physical capacity being masculine or feminine rather than just a rigid set of rules. I will try to find the article. It may have been posted on the Forums or I may have it in my research notes.