A new poll conducted on behalf of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute reveals Canadians support traditional sex-based categories for competitive sport by wide margins..They also believe that allowing transgender athletes who were born male but who identify as women to compete in women’s competitive events is “unfair.”.Three times as many Canadians (56% of respondents) believe it is “right” for men and women to compete separately from each other as those who think separate gender categories are “wrong” in sport (18% of respondents)..As well, by a four-to-one margin, Canadians believe it is “unfair” for transgender athletes who were born male to compete in women’s sports events. Sixty-two percent called this participation “unfair,” and only 15% called it “fair.”.This timely data comes during the Tokyo Olympics and a growing debate in Canada and around the world over the best way to include transgender athletes without compromising the fairness of women’s sport..Laurel Hubbard, a New Zealand-born male-to-female transgender weightlifter failed three times to lift the required weight in the 2020 Games..“Sport is about bodies and bodies differ, sometimes in ways that are important for sport,” said Leslie Howe, a professor of philosophy at the University of Saskatchewan and MLI contributor..“Sex-based categories exist in sport to ensure the fairness and validity of competition, the safety of competitors, and to ensure the inclusion of women and girls in sport, providing opportunities for them that would not otherwise exist. If sport isn’t fair, it just isn’t sport.”.Different sporting bodies and decision-makers have taken a wide range of approaches to this issue, including allowing athletes’ self-identification to determine the sex category that they participate in..Other agencies require significant medical interventions, hormone standards, and/or waiting periods imposed on athletes before they can compete in a category as per their gender identity. Others require athletes to participate in the category of their sex at birth..The new MLI polling indicates significant disagreement among Canadians regarding the best approach to balance inclusion and fairness..Seventeen percent of Canadians believe transgender athletes should be able to compete against any sex they wish to based on their self-identification as a man or woman..Roughly the same number believe transgender athletes ought to compete against other transgender athletes in a separate category. Just over 22% believe athletes should only be allowed to compete with athletes of the same sex that they were assigned at birth, and 25% prefer an “open or mixed category” to include transgender individuals. The remainder, 18%, were unsure..“The IOC has admitted that its policy for transgender athletes is ‘not fit for purpose’ and seeks to shift the onus back onto international federations,” said Jon Pike, former chair of the British Philosophy of Sport Association and MLI contributor..“This is a failure of leadership. Safe, fair, and maximally inclusive sport must be built on rational, evidence-based policy-making that can win reflective and well-considered public support.”.While there are few divisions in Canadians’ views based on education, gender, or region, it is evident that age is a significant factor contributing to respondents’ opinions. Those 55+ tend to be somewhat more likely to be concerned about the impact of transgender athletes on women’s competition. For instance, a third of Canadians under 34 believe that transgender athletes should be able to compete in any category based on gender self-identity, whereas only 7% of those 55+ hold a similar view..“Governments do countless things that affect lives – from health and military spending to taxation and roads,” noted Conrad Winn, a political science professor at Carleton University and founder of COMPAS Research..“But there are few things that resonate with the average person more than sports, sex, and gender. Sports administrators and government leaders need to pay attention to polls that reflect what people may care about. These opinion research findings are worth considering as policy leaders search for the right answers.”.To learn more, check out the interactive polling data here, or review the analysis of this data. An MLI webinar discussing the findings can be watched here..Lee Harding is a Saskatchewan-based contributor for Western Standard.
