Transgender sports

Transgender athletes have been in the news lately with some authorities arguing that, generally because of their stronger build, males who have undergone procedures leading to female status should not be allowed to participate in female sports events. 

To allow their participation would give them an unfair advantage over other women, whilst to exclude them from participation would be unfair to those athletes seeking inclusion.

There is a way around this that would be fair to both sides. 

Take the 100 metres event in the Olympic Games for example. If a trans woman was included and won the event, she would gain a special Gold Trans medal to acknowledge her achievement, whilst the runner up would be awarded the usual Gold medal acknowledging her place in the event. If the trans woman came second in the event she would gain a special Silver Trans medal whilst the runner coming third would win the usual Silver medal for second place getters....and so on for the bronze medals.

In this way we can acknowledge the excellence in performance of all competitors irrespective of their genetic makeup in a manner which, I feel, would be acceptable to all participants and their supporters, without ruffling too many feathers.

 

Just a footnote about the AFL (Australian Football League):

The women's AFL league has been named the AFLW, whilst the men's teams are still known as the AFL. This gives the impression that the women's teams are some sort of appendage to the AFL and true gender equality demands that this should be corrected by calling the men's teams the AFLM.