I'm an open-level elite biological female athlete, a distance runner. But we have a 12-year old transgender girl in our junior running group. We had to witness yet another U14 age group win against biological girls in a 1500m race at the weekend. It is saddening to see young girls in second and third place unwittingly (at this stage) accepting their loss to a boy. The issue bothers me terribly, especially when the parent tends to boast about the performance and small size of the child up against natural girls who have matured faster, as that is what happens between boys and girls during puberty in a lot of cases.
It doesn't affect me competitively due to age differences, but it really seems to affect me because it's an insult to our sex-based rights to fair competition and has implications for the future. I have seen this child beat biological girls "her" own age in competition, nobody openly seems to be concerned. She is also beaten by biological girls, but who is to know what is going to start happening next? I don't know what the evidence says about transgender female athletes who take puberty blockers and if there will be future biological advantages.
But it's really hard to talk openly to anyone about this because of political correctness and fear, and don't take a minute to think about what it means for us. It's almost criminal in their eyes for me to even talk or mention it out in the open.
There are other women I talk to quietly in the shadows about this. One of them is a mother of a young girl who has to race this trans athlete. The mother has told me that her daughter has said "Oh mum, none of us have a chance against her."
I can't find it within me to support this child and her parents in the group, nor support my coach's choice to support this child and help her develop into an athlete. I find it absolutely insulting and I am feeling quite a bit of cognitive dissonance because I am all for including people, not being a bully to anyone and I am a nice person.
I emailed our local sporting organisation about this, Athletics Victoria. I found out that this child was registered as a female and there is no other evidence to suggest otherwise that they can find. So they have to accept this transgender girl into track races. They also wanted me to read their inclusivity policy that has no mention of fairness. I emailed back and questioned them why they do not have any checks and balances in place to ensure athletes enter themselves into the correct category to prevent an unfair advantage, such as birth certificates? No answer back yet.
What is going to happen to the future of our sport? What will happen if this transgender girl continues to grow as a biological male identifying as a female and continues to beat girls and women as they progress?
Feeling down and frustrated.