Should Transgender athletes be allowed to compete in the Olympics?

By Flynn Kirvan

With the Winter Olympics coming up, a controversial argument has been started: “Should trans athletes be allowed to compete?” To some, this seems absurd. Why wouldn’t trans people be allowed to compete? The truth, however, it that some people view the participation of trans athletes in the Olympics as cheating. Many are saying that trans female athletes have an unfair advantage over those who are assigned female at birth, while others are fighting for more inclusion in the games. 

At Tokyo in 2020, Laurel Hubbard was the first transgender woman to ever compete in the Olympics. She was selected for New Zealand’s women’s weightlifting team. Hubbard came out as transgender in 2013, but before that, she had competed in men’s events. 

Before the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen said, “Anyone that has trained weightlifting at a high level knows this to be true in their bones: this particular situation is unfair to the sport and to the athletes. Life-changing opportunities are missed for some athletes – medals and Olympic qualifications – and we are powerless.” Vanbellinghen stated that while she fully supported the transgender community, the principle of inclusion should not be “at the expense of others”.  

Excluding trans people from events and activities can be damaging to their mental health and can make them feel unaccepted and unvalidated, but some Olympic athletes say that they feel the participation of trans athletes to be unfair to others.

After taking all the opinions and opposition of other athletes, it has been decided that trans athletes would be allowed to compete at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.