The IOC has released a 33-page guideline suggesting appropriate language for journalists covering transgender athletes at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, prompting both support and criticism from various stakeholders in the sports world.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has issued a guideline document advising journalists on language to use when reporting on transgender athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This 33-page document suggests avoiding terms such as ‘born male’, ‘born female’, ‘biologically male’, and ‘biologically female’, which the IOC describes as ‘problematic’. Instead, the guidelines recommend using terms like transgender girl/boy, transgender woman/man, and transgender person.
The IOC states that emphasizing a person’s gender rather than referring to the sex recorded on their birth certificate is preferable. The document suggests avoiding phrases such as ‘sex change’, ‘post-operative surgery’, and ‘transsexual’, labeling them as ‘dehumanizing and inaccurate’.
This move has sparked criticism from various quarters. Olympic swimming silver medallist Sharron Davies and three-time cycling Olympian Inga Thompson have voiced strong objections. Davies accused the IOC of hypocrisy, while Thompson labeled the IOC’s conduct as misogynistic.
The issue of transgender athletes in elite sports has been contentious. Sports like athletics, cycling, swimming, rugby, and rowing have banned transgender competitors from elite women’s races if they have gone through female puberty. The IOC allows individual sports to decide their own policies rather than having a unified stance.
Laurel Hubbard was the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics, representing New Zealand in the Tokyo 2021 Games, where she competed in the women’s 125kg weightlifting category.
The debate around transgender athletes came to the forefront after swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, won gold in a women’s event, having previously competed as a male-ranked athlete. In response, UK’s Culture Secretary, Lucy Frazer, called for banning transgender athletes from competing against women in sports.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11. An IOC spokesperson emphasized that the Olympics are a platform for global unity and peaceful competition.
