In the year Transgender swimmer Leah Thomas, who won the 2022 women’s NCAA championship and has said she wants to compete in the Olympics, has asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to overturn the World Aquatics Rules banning transgender women from competing. In the women’s room.
CAS, the world’s highest court of justice in sports, accepted the case in a statement released on Friday, saying Thomas said the rules were illegal and discriminatory. Thomas argued that “such discrimination cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective.” CAS said in a statement. He stated his position.
CAS said arbitration proceedings had begun in September 2023 and that the case was confidential under administrative procedures. But Thomas and World Aquatics, the governing body of swimming and other water sports, have agreed to let the court declare the case exists, the court said in a statement. on thursday, The Telegraph reported that the case occurred.
A hearing has not been scheduled.
Attorneys for Thomas and World Aquatics, based in Canada, did not return messages seeking comment.
World Aquatics, which sets the rules for major competitions including the Olympics, introduced a new gender policy in June 2022 that will only allow transgender women to compete in women’s competitions if they transition before the age of 12 or the first stage of puberty. . This effectively discourages male adolescent transgender females from engaging in female sexuality.
World Aquatics also introduced an “open” category for athletes who were not assigned female at birth. But he said the division had not received any submissions. The first event at the Swimming World Cup in Berlin in October.
“World Aquatics remains confident that its gender inclusion policy represents a fair approach and remains fully committed to protecting women’s sport,” said World Aquatics Executive Director Brent Nowicki. He told The Telegraph on Friday.
Thomas attended the University of Pennsylvania. In the year In 2017, she started swimming on the men’s swimming team. In May 2019, Thomas began transitioning using hormone replacement therapy. In the year In 2021, Thomas met the NCAA’s hormone therapy requirements to swim on the Penn women’s team.
In the year In March 2022, Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle event at the NCAA Division I National Swimming Championships, becoming the first openly transgender woman to win a collegiate women’s swimming title. “I plan to continue swimming,” Thomas said. In May 2022, it was renamed “Good Morning America”. “It’s been a goal of mine to swim at the Olympic trials for a long time, and I want to make it happen.”
Sports are one of many to implement policies for transgender athletes amid the broader debate about inclusion and competitive equity. Last year, the governing bodies of track and field and cycling ruled that transgender women could not compete in women’s events. The International Cycling Union made the decision after American Austin Killips became the first officially transgender woman to win one of the cycling events.
(Photo: Mike Comer / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)