'Harper mentioned the loss of running speed in multiple interviews as deeply unsettling, and implied that competing in the women’s category should thus be a consolation prize for the “sacrifice” (a term he used) he’d made, a right. "
This made my eyebrows hit the ceiling hard. I may have to re-plaster.
This is brilliant, it’s great to read the Joanna Harper backstory. It reminds me a bit of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice the way his study was taken up by the IOC. I’ve heard of a few other trans-identified men (and strangely, some women) with a vested interest in proving the legitimacy of testosterone suppression who work in sports science too (mostly at Brighton and Loughborough Universities in the UK.) Thanks for putting this together.
Adding to my earlier post, the NCAA officially adopted the "transgender inclusion policy" I quoted from by vote of the Executive Committee in April, 2010.
But the background documents the NCAA based its 2010 policy on, and the NCAA took a lot of its wording and reasoning from, were written in 2009.
So clearly, these policy changes were afoot at the NCAA and at many other sports governing bodies at least six years before Joanna Harper made a big splash with the publication of Harper's infamous "study" of 8 runners in January 2015.
The statement that starts the second paragraph - "Yet this deeply flawed “study” became the foundation that allowed men who identified as women to compete in all women’s sports, at levels from the NCAA to Olympic" - isn't accurate.
Harper's "study" convinced a panel convened by the International Olympic Committee in 2015 to change the rules for tOlympic competition - and because the Olympics are so influential this had a knock-on or trickle-down effect on many other sports governing bodies.
But the truth is that the NCAA and many other sports governing bodies had already changed their policies to make it very easy for males to use gender identity claims to gain entry into women's and girls's sports several years BEFORE Harper's "study" was published, and BEFORE the IOC decided to change its rules in late 2015.
For example, the NCAA changed its rules to allow males to use gender identity claims to compete in female collegiate sports in the USA in 2009-2010. The "2010 NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation" says:
"A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for gender dysphoria for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment."
It was the NCAA policy put into place in 2009-10 that CeCe Telfer, June Eastwoord and Lia Thomas made use of some years later when they decided to horn in on, and dominate, in women's NCAA sports - Telfer and Eastwood in track & field, Thomas in swimming.
Also, it's worth noting that the NCAA's 2009-10 "transgender policy" made it even easier for males to muscle in on the female category than the ridiculously lenient "trans inclusion" policy the IOC put in place for the Olympics in ate 2015.
The NCAA Transgender Policy put in place in 2009-10 did not set an upper limit on the testosterone levels of trans-identified males in women's sports. The NCAA rules that Telfer, Eastwood and Thomas all competed in the women's category under simply said that males had to take some kind of "testosterone ssuppression treatment" for a year before they became eligible for the female category of sports. But the NCAA rules did not say males like Telfer, Thomas and Eastwood had to suppress their T to any particular level. Nor did the NCAA rules say tthat males claiming trans identities had to suppress their T continually during the year of treatment. A male athlete could easily have met the 2010 NCAA criteria if he took a single estrogen birth control pill once a month over the course of a year - or a single pill every few months.
Similarly, the NCAA rules that allowed Telfer, Thomas and Eastwood an easy way to barge into women's sports did not require male athletes to undergo any testing to check their T levels, or to provide medical documentation showing they had been tested by their personal HCPs or outside labs. All they needed was a note from a HCP saying they had been on some kind of "testosterone suppression treatment" for the past 12 months.
In the USA, the bodies that make the rules for public school sports also changed their rules to allow males to compte in girls' sports several years before Harper came out with Harper's stupid "study" and the IOC changed its rules.
For example, the policy that the state of Connecticut adopted in 2013 says:
"Transgender and gender non-conforming students shall be permitted to participate in physical education classes and intramural sports in a manner consistent with their gender identity.
"Interscholastic Competitive Sports Teams: Transgender and gender non-conforming students shall be permitted to participate in interscholastic athletics in a manner consistent with their gender identity and in compliance with the applicable regulations of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Association (CIAC).
"Locker Room Accessibility: The use of locker rooms by transgender students shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the goals of maximizing the student’s social integration and equal opportunity to participate in physical education classes and sports, ensuring the student’s safety and comfort, and minimizing stigmatization of the student. In most cases, transgender students should have access to the locker room that corresponds to their gender identity consistently asserted at school, like all other students."
The Connectictut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which sets the rules for interscholastic sports in the state, adopted its "inclusive sports participation policy for transgender students" in 2013. That policy says:
"for purposes of sports participation, the CIAC shall defer to the determination of the student and his or her local school regarding gender identification. In this regard, the school district shall determine a student’s eligibility to participate in a CIAC gender specific sports team based on the gender identification of that student in current school records and daily life activities in the school and community at the time that sports eligibility is determined for a particular season."
'Harper mentioned the loss of running speed in multiple interviews as deeply unsettling, and implied that competing in the women’s category should thus be a consolation prize for the “sacrifice” (a term he used) he’d made, a right. "
This made my eyebrows hit the ceiling hard. I may have to re-plaster.
This is brilliant, it’s great to read the Joanna Harper backstory. It reminds me a bit of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice the way his study was taken up by the IOC. I’ve heard of a few other trans-identified men (and strangely, some women) with a vested interest in proving the legitimacy of testosterone suppression who work in sports science too (mostly at Brighton and Loughborough Universities in the UK.) Thanks for putting this together.
Adding to my earlier post, the NCAA officially adopted the "transgender inclusion policy" I quoted from by vote of the Executive Committee in April, 2010.
https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/inclusion/lgbtq/INC_TransgenderHandbook.pdf
But the background documents the NCAA based its 2010 policy on, and the NCAA took a lot of its wording and reasoning from, were written in 2009.
So clearly, these policy changes were afoot at the NCAA and at many other sports governing bodies at least six years before Joanna Harper made a big splash with the publication of Harper's infamous "study" of 8 runners in January 2015.
The statement that starts the second paragraph - "Yet this deeply flawed “study” became the foundation that allowed men who identified as women to compete in all women’s sports, at levels from the NCAA to Olympic" - isn't accurate.
Harper's "study" convinced a panel convened by the International Olympic Committee in 2015 to change the rules for tOlympic competition - and because the Olympics are so influential this had a knock-on or trickle-down effect on many other sports governing bodies.
But the truth is that the NCAA and many other sports governing bodies had already changed their policies to make it very easy for males to use gender identity claims to gain entry into women's and girls's sports several years BEFORE Harper's "study" was published, and BEFORE the IOC decided to change its rules in late 2015.
For example, the NCAA changed its rules to allow males to use gender identity claims to compete in female collegiate sports in the USA in 2009-2010. The "2010 NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation" says:
"A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for gender dysphoria for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment."
It was the NCAA policy put into place in 2009-10 that CeCe Telfer, June Eastwoord and Lia Thomas made use of some years later when they decided to horn in on, and dominate, in women's NCAA sports - Telfer and Eastwood in track & field, Thomas in swimming.
Also, it's worth noting that the NCAA's 2009-10 "transgender policy" made it even easier for males to muscle in on the female category than the ridiculously lenient "trans inclusion" policy the IOC put in place for the Olympics in ate 2015.
The NCAA Transgender Policy put in place in 2009-10 did not set an upper limit on the testosterone levels of trans-identified males in women's sports. The NCAA rules that Telfer, Eastwood and Thomas all competed in the women's category under simply said that males had to take some kind of "testosterone ssuppression treatment" for a year before they became eligible for the female category of sports. But the NCAA rules did not say males like Telfer, Thomas and Eastwood had to suppress their T to any particular level. Nor did the NCAA rules say tthat males claiming trans identities had to suppress their T continually during the year of treatment. A male athlete could easily have met the 2010 NCAA criteria if he took a single estrogen birth control pill once a month over the course of a year - or a single pill every few months.
Similarly, the NCAA rules that allowed Telfer, Thomas and Eastwood an easy way to barge into women's sports did not require male athletes to undergo any testing to check their T levels, or to provide medical documentation showing they had been tested by their personal HCPs or outside labs. All they needed was a note from a HCP saying they had been on some kind of "testosterone suppression treatment" for the past 12 months.
https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/inclusion/lgbtq/INC_TransgenderStudentAthleteParticipationPolicy.pdf
In the USA, the bodies that make the rules for public school sports also changed their rules to allow males to compte in girls' sports several years before Harper came out with Harper's stupid "study" and the IOC changed its rules.
For example, the policy that the state of Connecticut adopted in 2013 says:
"Transgender and gender non-conforming students shall be permitted to participate in physical education classes and intramural sports in a manner consistent with their gender identity.
"Interscholastic Competitive Sports Teams: Transgender and gender non-conforming students shall be permitted to participate in interscholastic athletics in a manner consistent with their gender identity and in compliance with the applicable regulations of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Association (CIAC).
"Locker Room Accessibility: The use of locker rooms by transgender students shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the goals of maximizing the student’s social integration and equal opportunity to participate in physical education classes and sports, ensuring the student’s safety and comfort, and minimizing stigmatization of the student. In most cases, transgender students should have access to the locker room that corresponds to their gender identity consistently asserted at school, like all other students."
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/Title-IX/transgender_guidance.pdf?la=en
The Connectictut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which sets the rules for interscholastic sports in the state, adopted its "inclusive sports participation policy for transgender students" in 2013. That policy says:
"for purposes of sports participation, the CIAC shall defer to the determination of the student and his or her local school regarding gender identification. In this regard, the school district shall determine a student’s eligibility to participate in a CIAC gender specific sports team based on the gender identification of that student in current school records and daily life activities in the school and community at the time that sports eligibility is determined for a particular season."
https://www.casciac.org/pdfs/Principal_Transgender_Discussion_Quick_Reference_Guide.pdf
Wow, I had no idea about all this backstory! Thank you for telling the full story! (And have you come across SheWon.org yet?)