The Union Cycliste Internationale updated its transgender athlete policy last week, and while it is an improvement over the previous version, it is not good enough.
The UCI barred male athletes who identify as women from competing against women if they transitioned after puberty.
NEW YORK CITY PUSHES THE LIMITS OF GREEN POLICIES
While this is better than allowing these men to compete against women, the policy’s support for early gender transition needs revising.
The new UCI policy tacitly endorses the idea that people can change their gender, particularly prepubescent children. That sets a horrible precedent. Males start puberty anywhere between 9 and 14 years old, according to the United Kingdom National Health Service. Many 9-year-olds are third graders, meaning male puberty begins in elementary school in some cases and middle school in others.
It is absurd for any organization to endorse a policy that supports these children making life-altering medical decisions, especially ones that defy natural law and that many later grow to regret. It is why red states have been working to ban gender transitions for minors — they understand the damage being done to children, including detransitioners who deeply regret their previous decisions.
A man can never become a woman, and a woman can never become a man. Therefore, it is irresponsible for athletic organizations such as UCI to accept this false premise.
Yet, in allowing fewer men to compete against women in cycling, the UCI deserves at least some credit for making the change. The new policy makes it less likely for men to compete in any given women’s race, let alone for them to win the race. More importantly, it rejects their self-selected gender identity.
UCI and other sports organizations could fix the problem by requiring all athletes to compete based on their biological sex, not their self-selected gender identity. It would prevent males from dominating women’s sports, and it would accept biological reality. It is a simple solution, but it is also the proper one.
While more needs to be done to address the mental health needs of those who suffer from gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia to alleviate symptoms such as depression and anxiety, those solutions do not have to involve pretending men can be women and allowing children to pick their gender. Hopefully, sports organizations such as UCI will soon acknowledge that reality and update their policies accordingly.
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Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.
