Canadian transgender student athletes can now play on the team that corresponds with either their sex assigned at birth or their gender identity, according to a new U Sports policy.
The national brand of university sports in Canada announced the decision on Sept. 26, effective immediately.
Lisen Moore, chair of the U Sports equity committee and manager of varsity sports, said in a press release that the members of the committee were driven to ensure that all students have equal opportunities of being selected to varsity teams regardless of their gender or their gender identity and expression.
“We are thrilled by the support of the Board on our leading-edge transgender policy, and we are now looking forward to assisting our member institutions with the roll-out and implementation of that policy,” she said.
The equity committee of U Sports has been working on the policy since 2016 and was guided by “Creating Inclusive Environments for Trans Participants in Canadian Sport,” a report by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES).
The approved policy does not require student athletes to undertake hormone therapy or sex reassignment to compete in the gender category they identify with.
However, an athlete’s hormone levels must comply with Canadian Anti-Doping Program guidelines.
Charlene Weaving, a human kinetics professor at St. Francis Xavier University, said this might prop up some issues for trans athletes as they may present different levels of hormones in testing.
Weaving said the policy doesn’t make it clear that athletes who are transitioning can get Therapeutic Use Exemption, which is given to athletes who may use drugs on the prohibited list for medical purposes.
“It’s not doping, it’s not cheating—it’s just part of the transitioning process,” she said.
However, Weaving welcomed the U Sports policy and said it’s one of the more inclusive policies for student athletes since it does not require them to be transitioning to play on a certain team.
“I think what we have to realize is that . . . people don’t fake transitioning or fake gender identity, to gain an advantage in sports, specially at the U Sports level,” she said.
Roberta Drummond, a Carleton University women’s rugby player, said she has a brother who’s transgender who started taking testosterone a year ago and he is now double her size.
“I think what people are worried about is that you’re going to have these huge ‘girl-men’ trying to compete in women’s synchronized swimming. That’s the biggest fear right now,” she said. “Being a transgender person is already hard enough. Just for someone to say they’re transgender just to try and compete in another gender’s sport . . . that’s not going to happen.”
Weaving is currently wrapping up research where she interviewed trans athletes and non-trans athletes and found that there’s a lot of misconceptions about advantage in sport.
“The biggest thing is that there’s a lot of misconceptions out there in terms of what the regulations are and the underlying belief that if one has more elevated levels of testosterone that they’re going to have an advantage in sports but there’s no concrete scientific evidence to prove this,” she said.
Jennifer Brenning, director of Carleton University’s Recreation and Athletics, said the department implemented policies for transgender inclusion in 2015 to promote understanding and awareness about trans people and their rights.
The policy gives transgender users the right to use the change rooms, showers, and washrooms that are in accordance with their gender identity, but there are also gender-neutral facilities that patrons can use.
Brenning said while she’s unaware of any cases of trans athletes wanting to join varsity teams at Carleton, the new U Sports policy will now set a precedent in university sports.
“I am hopeful that it’s seen by students as very inclusive and that they have opportunity to participate,” she said.
—With files from Michael Sun
