Sport Is Again Divided Over Inclusiveness and a Level Playing Field
nytimes.comShould the primary aim of elite sports be competitive fairness? Or does maintaining integrity mean that inclusiveness is just as important as a level playing field?
The issue, which has roiled the water of pools everywhere with the success of Lia Thomas, the transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer, burst to the surface again on Sunday.
FINA, swimming’s world governing body, essentially prohibited transgender women from the highest levels of women’s international competition.
FINA’s proposal is to create a so-called open category of competition to “protect competitive fairness.” But a separate category is “isolating, demeaning and has the potential to make transgender and nonbinary competitors into a spectacle on an international stage,” Anne Lieberman, the director of policy and programs at Athlete Ally, which seeks to end transphobia and homophobia in sports, said in an email Wednesday.
