Kirsti, do you notice any physical differences between yourself and everyone else on the field? Do you feel like or do you perform like you have an advantage?
10k Posts
North Melbourne - 2018 Luke Davies-Uniacke and Paul Ahern Player Sponsor
Pantskyle
Minecraft
Shiny Penny
Ruby
Thankyou for your question, I started my transition from a male body to a female in 1999, I had to be approved to commence hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after several extremely thorough assessments from my psychiatrist. I commenced HRT in late 1999. For a male to female transgender person HRT involves receiving an anti androgen that kills of your testosterone levels the same drug that is provided to sex offenders to chemically castrate them. The second part of HRT involves receiving massive amounts of the female hormone oestrogen which assist in reversing the effects of puberty and Mother Nature the estrogen treatment and the anti androgen treatment assisted in changing my body into a more feminine and female state including the growth of breasts. Within one year of HRT my testosterone and estrogen levels were within the normal level of a genetically born female. I underwent gender reassignment surgery 9 years ago. My level of testosterone is now far lower than a genetically born female and my estrogen levels are within the normal levels. As a post operative woman from a trans background I do not produce the male hormone testosterone but my Sisters my female partner and all other genetically born females do produce this male hormone naturally as do males naturally produce small levels of the female hormone estrogen. This HRT and gender reassignment surgery has reduced my body from a size 22 to a size 10 or roughly 100kg to 68 kg. Testosterone is the hormone that produces strength and endurance in a human male or female. The International Olympic Committee ruled in 2003 that a a post operative person two years plus post op can legally compete as their true gender as both sporting and medical experts agree that at two years post op a trans person has no physical advantage, I agree bia personal experience, my energy and strength levels are far lower than a woman of similar age who trains a similar regime as I do.
I am not legally able to compete against men as my legal status is a female, I have held a female birth certificate since 2006.
Thankyou
My partner and myself play soccer in the Broken Hill Women's A Grade, I am a goalkeeper and was last years runner golden glove. My partner Nikki and myself Nikki being a former Australian Soccer Rep enjoy soccer very much and we both have found far more acceptance with the soccer community than the AFL as a whole. Nikki and I both were made to feel very unwelcome from the AFL Officials not the players as most of the soccer girls in Broken Hill are the same girls that we both played AFL against, I was actually appointed as the captain of our ladies soccer team for this years pre season competition.
i agree totally Gough, I am very happy to answer any respectful questions as the fear of the unknown is what frightens most people. Since 1999, I have found the real blokey blokes in this world are the ones that treat me best, the people that are comfortable in their own skin usually provide the greatest acceptance, the bigots and rednecks and those hiding flaws in their character are the first to yell abuse or threaten people of difference.
10k Posts
North Melbourne - 2018 Luke Davies-Uniacke and Paul Ahern Player Sponsor
Pantskyle
Minecraft
Shiny Penny
Ruby
it was determined in 2003 by the International Olympic Committee that a male to female that has undergone gender reassignment surgery and is two years post operative and have their legal status officially altered to female qualify to compete the Olympic Games most other sports have followed suit with the OIC rulings.
10k Posts
North Melbourne - 2018 Luke Davies-Uniacke and Paul Ahern Player Sponsor
Pantskyle
Minecraft
Shiny Penny
Ruby
If you compare my partner who is 14 years younger then myself and we both have a similar build and training regime yes I am significantly slower, weaker and with less endurance. The IOC formed the Stockholm Consensus in 2003 prior to the Athens Olympics. The Stockholm Consensus was a committee made up of medical and sporting experts, this committee investigated the pros and cons of trans athletes competing at Olympic Game Level. The committee which was sanctioned by OIC determined at two years post operative a female to male person had no advantage physically over genetically born female athletes. The IOC are an extremely cautious and conservative orginisation that don't make decisions lightly. Trans athletes have been able to compete at all Olympic Games since Athens in 2004. I am not aware of any trans athlete that has even qualified to compete at any games since the Stockholm Consensus Decision. Athletes in both genders come in all shapes and sizes, and many more masculine female athletes have been unfairly treated. The AFL along with most sporting bodies in the world have adopted the IOC ruling on transgender athletes. At no time have I been banned from playing AFL and at no time was I found guilty of breaching any of the AFL rules and bylaws. The Broken Hill AFL coped scathing criticism from the NSW, ACT Afl Governing body for covering up and poorly handling the original vilification incident. It wasn't until some 6 weeks after the original incident that the Governing NSW AFL became aware of the incident, this was weeks after when my house had been rocked and I had received death threats on both social media and via telephone. I was praised by Tom Harley the then CEO of the NSW/ACT for my stance and the courage I showed for reporting this incident.
your welcome as I said previously education is the key, I thankyou for taking time to find out facts as the more people that are aware of transgender issues hopefully the more acceptance it will generate and thus reduce the rate of trans suicide victims.Thanks - just read your longer comment where the physical "strength" is not an issue either
As I said in my original comment - it was more about safety and I was happy to be educated otherwise.
If there is no strength mismatch (ergo no additional safety complications) then there should be zero issue
Thanks for the heads up!
