The world’s governing body for swimming, FINA, has banned males from participating in female sports except for those who began the process of medicalized transition before the onset of puberty. In a gesture of goodwill toward trans-identifying athletes, world swimming will also establish a new “open” category.
While banning males from competing against females is a commonsense policy, and the “open” category a more than generous compromise, the implication that prepubescent transition is also an acceptable solution ought to be resisted. The transitioning of children is a far more grave and permanent injustice than any unfair sporting competition.