Tell CrossFit to change its anti-transgender policy

CrossFit needs to change its policy that allows transgender athletes to compete under their consistent, lived gender identity.

Last year, Chloie Jonnson registered to compete in the CrossFit Games, a contest aimed at determining the fittest man and woman. Chloie is a transgender woman, has been living as a woman since her teenage years, and registered as such.

Chloie was then anonymously outed to CrossFit as a transgender woman. The response of CrossFit was to invalidate her registration and state that all athletes must register and compete under their birth gender.

When pressed further, CrossFit issued a letter that said:
"The fundamental, ineluctable fact is that a male competitor who has a sex reassignment procedure still has the genetic makeup that confers a physical and physiological advantage over women. That Chloie may have felt herself emotionally, and very conscientiously, to be a woman in her heart, and that she ultimately underwent the legal and other surgical procedures to carry that out, cannot change that reality. Further, the timing of her sex reassignment surgery (and any subsequent hormone therapy) does not change this discussion.
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Our decision has nothing to do with ‘ignorance’ or being bigots — it has to do with a very real understanding of the human genome, of fundamental biology, that you are either intentionally ignoring or missed in high school."

An organization cannot rightfully claim to "welcome trans* athletes with open arms" and then create conditions which prevent them from participating.

As I have outlined on www.transathlete.com, many athletic governing bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, have created guidelines for allowing trans athletes to compete as their lived gender. It is ridiculous to think Chloie Jonsson would meet the standards for transgender women to compete at the highest level of sports but is not allowed to compete in CrossFit.

The policies that CrossFit is employing regarding transgender athletes has damaged its reputation, hurt countless transgender athletes, and need to be replaced with an inclusive policy that allows transgender athletes to compete as their consistent and lived gender.

-- Chris Mosier, www.transathlete.com