Carmen Carrera has been outspoken about the treatment of transgender people when it comes to the world of beauty and now she’s speaking out in sports as she slams CrossFit for banning a fellow transgender woman from competing in one of its competitions.
According to the Huffington Post, transgender athlete Chloie Jonsson is suing CrossFit for $2.5 million after they barred her from competing in the women’s division of the CrossFit Games.
CorssFit reportedly said that Jonsson can’t compete because she was born a male, even in spite of the fact that she had gender confirmation surgery in 2006 and is legally recognized as a woman by the state of California.
Recently, Carrera came to Jonsson’s defense and challenged CrossFit’s claim that the “genetic makeup” of a person who was born a male“confers a physical and physiological advantage over women.”
“When you remove your testicles … that is it. You are no longer a male and you don’t produce testosterone,” Carrera reportedly told TMZ. “You get weaker … your whole body switches and it starts to reshape … Put [Chloie] under the test and I bet her [testosterone] levels are the same as the rest of the competitors. Run some tests to make it fair.”
Carrera added that the person who put that statement together is “probably some loser sitting on some huge set of nuts with testosterone who doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
And although some may question Carrera’s claims, ironically enough, according to Queerty, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) states in their handbook for the Inclusion of Transgender Student Athletes that this assumption about trans women having an advantage is not supported. “It is also important to know that any strength and endurance advantages a transgender woman arguably may have as a result of her prior testosterone levels dissipate after about one year of estrogen or testosterone-suppression therapy. According to medical experts on this issue, the assumption that a transgender woman competing on a women’s team would have a competitive advantage outside the range of performance and competitive advantage or disadvantage that already exists among female athletes is not supported by evidence,” reads the handbook.
It seems like Jonsson has a sound case against CrossFit and perhaps they should amend their rules to align with scientific evidence. – nicholas robinson
