This is a response to the media attention that female master’s Track and Field athlete Tiffany Newell’s performances have garnered. This is firmly in support of Tiffany and transgender athletes. There is a lot of public dialogue about Tiffany right now. Most of it centres hate. This piece is important to me because what’s out there right now is missing key voices and it’s missing support. The current dialogue is also lacking respect and fairness- foundations of sport.
Tiffany Newell is a Canadian Female 50-54 aged Master’s Track and Field Athlete. She is a terrific athlete. She is a woman. She is a transgender woman. I am a Female 40-44 aged Master’s Track and Field athlete. I am a woman. I am a cisgender woman. In my professional role, I do support transgender youth but this writing is not from my professional desk, it’s from me as an athlete and ally.
Tiffany is not a “biological male.” Just like I am not a “biological female.” These terms can’t be used factually because they don’t mean anything. More on that later. Tiffany is transgender woman. She was “assigned male at birth.” I am a cisgender woman. I was “assigned female at birth.”
Master’s track races nearly always include heats with multiple age groups together. On the road, we would race together. Yes, Tiffany is my competition. I 100% support Tiffany. I would love to race with and against her.
The Track Story:
On the weekend of Feb 25, Tiffany raced in the Female 50-54 age group in the 1500m at Canadian Indoor Master’s National Championship in Toronto. She raced in the Female 50-54 field BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN (full stop). At the beginning of this year, this was my goal race and I shifted focus for personal reasons. Indoor Master’s National Championships do not have any qualifying standards. The awards and placing are done in 5 year age groupings. There were 2 women in Tiffany’s age group. Small fields are common. Ten women total competed in the 1500 at this event. Tiffany ran 5:07.611. The other woman ran 6:19.358. Therefore, Tiffany won this event for F50-54.
First, congratulations to Tiffany. She earned and deserved this win through her hard work and racing skills. And congratulations to Tiffany’s competitor. She earned and deserved her silver medal.
For those who are not familiar with the track and field world and interpretation of race results; these are not outlier performances. These are regular, expected, excellent performances by excellent national class master athletes. For context, last track season, I raced one single 1500m event. You almost never race your fastest in the first one, you mostly need to race yourself into your best performance. At age 41, I ran a 5:02.91. Five university-aged women beat me. I placed 6th out of 10 women. The second place woman in Tiffany’s race ran 6:19.358. Again: I have nothing but congratulations for her, she raced her best, got the best out of herself and enjoyed the community. A 6:19 over 1500m is 4:12/km pace. In my last competitive road race, a hilly half marathon, I ran a 4:00/km pace for 21.1km. Repeating context here: these are not outlier 1500m performances. These are very regular and excellent performances by excellent masters aged female athletes.
Despite that, here is the media coverage that ensued:
It pains me to give this hate more visibility but I will because it’s important to see the media reaction in order to take a stand and push back.
This is an international piece. We can see it was shared 271 times. Here are some excepts from the UK’s Daily Mail that I want to highlight as exceptionally problematic.
“While only one other person in that age group competed, Newell has repeatedly placed first in women’s events and has set global records.” Daily Mail, UK.
This article goes on to claim that “evidence has shown that trans women who have been through male puberty maintain their physical advantage even after treatment to lower testosterone levels.” See more later: we can also quote evidence that disputes this.
This article also states she “scooped” some records.
The use of language such as “repeatedly placed first” and “scooped” records attempts to indicate that Tiffany has committed an offense or stolen a record. We could choose to word this in many different ways: “Tiffany’s hard work and preparation has led to numerous wins and she has achieved multiple records.”
This article quotes a lobby group that campaigns for “protected categories for biological women.” And then we quote Marcellus Wily, a one time NFL player, who was a pro-bowler 22 years ago. Why are we quoting him? I am positing that it’s to spread hate. Then the article covers Caitlyn Jenner- stating “she has a tremendous advantage over girls she competes against”. This is confusing because Caitlyn Jenner is not currently competing in track and field.
ABC news went with this headline.
The first line of the article reads:
“Critics are furious after Tiffany Newell, a trans woman who is biologically male, won another major running competition one year after becoming the first trans runner to set a national record in Canadian women’s running.”
It goes on to talk about how she is “called out” by the International Consortium on Women’s Sports.
This reporting is inflammatory. It spreads transphobia. It spreads hate.
Fox News chimed in too, adding “Newell’s result comes amid a heated national debate about transgender athlete participation in women and girl’s sports.
As you might imagine, the social media comments associated with these articles include rampant transphobia on display. This is harmful to trans athletes and those who love them and it’s damaging to our sport’s progress.
We rarely see moderator responses that clearly state that discrimination, prejudice and victimization on the basis of personal attributes, including gender identity (and gender expression in many provinces), is a violation of human rights (fact, it is).
I would like to cover a few things here:
- The term “biological male”
- The established rules governing women’s sport (by World Athletics)
- The concept of “debate” versus human rights
- What is a competitive advantage?
- “Protecting Women’s Sports”
- Who’s voice is missing in this public dialogue.
Easily identifying “Biological Sex” is a Myth:
Many who oppose transgender rights believe that gender is determined solely by biological sex. But, biological sex isn’t as straightforward as they likely think, and there is no one parameter that makes a person biologically male or female. In fact, many conditions make assigning a biological sex quite difficult. Despite the complexities, biological sex is often discussed as if it were obvious how to assign male or female sex.
This article explains this nicely.
“Fair” is a word used often by those who oppose transgender rights. If we are going to have a fair dialogue about this, we would not be using the words “biological female” because biological sex can’t be readily verified. The biology of sex is real, but it’s extremely complicated, and there is no easy way to factually draw a line between biologically male and female people. There are more than a dozen different conditions that blur the line between male and female. These are variations of sexual development or VSDs, sometimes also called intersex conditions. These are not rare. VSDs occur as frequently as twins or red hair.
Here is more reading about the terms “biological sex” (again, not accurate), gender identity and assigned sex at birth
In pursuit of “fairness,” no media articles should be referring to Tiffany or any transgender women athletes as “biologically male.”
WORLD ATHLETICS ELIGIBILITY REGULATIONS FOR TRANSGENDER ATHLETES
The World Athletics policy states that to be eligible for female competition, transgender athletes must follow three guidelines:
- Provide a written and signed declaration, in a form satisfactory to WA Medical Manager, confirming their gender identity is now female; however, athletes need not have sought or obtained legal recognition of their gender identity or changed the sex marker on official identification (i.e. passports or drivers license).
- Demonstrate to the satisfaction of WA officials “on the balance of probabilities” that the concentration of testosterone in their blood serum has been less than 5 mol/L continuously for a period of at least 12 months (WA’s average range for serum testosterone in males is 7.7-29.4 mol/L; the average for females is 0.2-1.68 mol/L).
- Transgender athletes must keep their serum testosterone concentration below 5 mol/L to maintain eligibility and compete in the female category.
Tiffany has fulfilled all of these obligations. It’s for another day to discuss that these regulations were quite likely established under the influence of patriarchy and systematic racism and they have disproportionately been used to target BIPOC athletes like Caster Semenya and Dutee Chand: another day.
Today, Tiffany has fulfilled all of these obligations, set forth by those whom the track and field world has bestowed the expertise and responsibility for establishing the regulations.
So should every person in the country get to weigh in on these regulations? And whilst doing so, personally attack the athletes who are following them?
I am suggesting that it’s not debate when there is hate involved. That’s called spewing hateful transphobia.
I talk about this concept to the young people who I work with: debate vs hate.
Whether or not testosterone actually provides a competitive advantage is something that could be debated, using current evidence.
The existence, validity and human rights of transgender people is not up for debate. As a society and a sporting community, we now have ample experience, evidence and understanding to recognize that the experiences of trans individuals are real and represent an important element of our broader human diversity. All sport organizations in Canada are subject to provincial and territorial human rights laws, which are designed to protect against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. This is from the Ontario Human Rights Commission: (I chose Ontario because that’s where Tiffany resides and where the competition took place).
- People who are transgender, or gender non-conforming, come from all walks of life. Yet they are one of the most disadvantaged groups in society. Trans people routinely experience discrimination, harassment and even violence because their gender identity or gender expression is different from their birth-assigned sex. Under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) people are protected from discrimination and harassment because of gender identity and gender expression in employment, housing, facilities and services, contracts, and membership in unions, trade or professional associations.
The protection against discrimination on the grounds of gender identity is not up for debate. It’s protected by human rights laws.
What is a competitive advantage?
One of the articles covering Tiffany’s race stated as fact: “evidence has shown that trans women who have been through male puberty maintain their physical advantage even after treatment to lower testosterone levels.”
Other reputable scientific journals have published works indicating that it’s unclear how the biological advantage of testosterone, singled out by the World Athletics, as an appropriate target for diminishment, is relevantly different from other biological advantages that athletes may enjoy.
What’s another biological advantage? How about swimmer Michael Phelps’ incredibly arm span? How about the impressive height of many basketball stars? How about my own hereditary condition of hemochromatosis which causes iron overload- in other words- more red blood cell production.
Last year, in 2022, I won the Indoor Masters Championship in New York City, in the F40-44 3000m. Fox News and ABC did not interview me. They did not accuse me of having an unfair advantage and put who I am as a person on public display, inviting reams of toxic, violent discourse to be thrown at me.
If we are talking about “fairness”, I am going to quote some ethicists here (Holmen, Petersen, Ryberg, 2022):
“we can debate that one source of unfairness is the fact that male athletes with huge competitive advantages conferred by their genetic inheritance, such as the swimmer Michael Phelps, have not been required to use performance-diminishing drugs in order to compete. Is there something special about testosterone levels, then? Is there something about them that makes it more reasonable to demand that they (unlike other advantageous characteristics) be reduced? In our view, it is hard to see how they could be regarded as special in this way, and in our paper, we reject one account purporting to explain why testosterone levels are more significant than other biological advantages”. You can read the paper here.
These ethicists also argue that the conclusion of the World Athletic’s fairness-based argument – namely, that athletes with heightened levels of blood testosterone should use drugs to lower these levels – is not adequately supported by its premises. Specifically, we demonstrate that the fairness-based argument would equally well support the view that athletes with blood testosterone levels within the normal range should be allowed to use drugs to heighten their testosterone levels.
My take home message here is this: it can’t be proved that testosterone levels account for performance advantage in the black and white way that critics like to suggest.
ARE you protecting women’s sports?
Many of the transphobic rhetoric and hate put forth is under the guise of “protecting women’s sports”. I want to challenge that every time. If person X reading Fox news and blasting their hate in the comments section wants to protect women’s sports, show me when they have spoken up alongside Women’s National Team Athletes, in multiple sports, when these women athletes are asking for pay equity, for equity in access to training facilities and the same championship rings that their male counterparts have? Show me when they’ve lobbied our national sports media outlets to air more coverage of women’s sports? Show me how they are demanding more visibility for women working in the sports world so that young girls see themselves represented? Show me their objection to Tiger Woods and the tampon? Show me their participation in pressuring Nike and other sports mega-conglomerates to offer maternity benefits for women athletes, or to at least stop slashing their pay during pregnancy and post-partum performance.. Show me their dedication to trying to ensure that all coaches of young girls understand how to best support girls through healthy puberty and to identify RED-S. Should I go on?
I will let USWNT Captain Becky Sauerbrunn wrap this one up:
Finally, this leads me into what voices are missing in this dialogue.
The critics and the internet trolls are loud.
It’s important to loudly add support to this dialogue as well.
ABC news quoted Marcellus Wily, who was a relevant football player 22 years ago. Why would his opinion on this matter? Again, as above, he was included to incite hate.
I am Tiffany Newell’s competition. If someone’s voice matters, doesn’t it make sense for that voice to be Tiffany’s competition? So here it is. Again. I 100% support her and look forward to competing against her. I will give her a celebratory hug on the line if she beats me. When I raced Canadian 5km National Championships in September 2022, Tiffany was on the entrant list. I was so pleased to get the chance to compete against her, simply as a member of the assembled female elite field. To me, it was such a sign of progress, that she was included in the women’s field, no fanfare, just a regular female entrant, like I was. We had similar seed times. At the pre-race meal, she was introduced similarly to me, another woman in the field. In the end, she and several others didn’t race. This happens often in a race season, an elite runner makes an elite decision to pull out of a race.
Tiffany’s first established national record was in the Indoor 5000m, at 18:02. I am still 3 years away from competing in the F45 age group that she set this record in. Currently, I can run that fast over 5000m. But I will not pursue that record on the Indoor Track. I want her record to endure. It’s important for visibility and in pursuit of the kind of inclusive running community that I want to be part of. I want to be part of a running community where a transgender woman can hold a national record and be supported.
A former teammate of Tiffany’s, Noel Paine, took to social media in support. He writes, “It took courage for Tiffany to be herself and to compete. He writes, “There can be debate about sport and rules but NO ONE, NO ONE deserves the hostility, abuse and disgusting treatment that she is getting from media, social media. I cannot imagine what this is doing to her. I show my support for my university friend, a fellow athlete, a fellow human being, a Canadian who does not deserve to be treated this way. No one does”
I borrowed the title of this piece, #IAmTiffany from Noel.
My friend and fellow Masters Athlete competitor Paula James has been consistently loud in her support of Tiffany; now and also when the media covered Tiffany’s ratified 5000m record in January. She is a friend and former teammate to Tiffany. In January, she loudly supported Tiffany in the classiest of ways as it was Paula’s record that Tiffany broke. Paula simply, classily, shared that Tiffany earned it and went on to say it was easier to lose a national record to a friend and a kind soul like Tiffany. She echoes Noel’s support and that no one deserve to be treated this way.
So if we are allies, what do we do now?
Please speak up. Share supportive posts. Seek knowledge and education.
Everyday we wake up, we all have a choice. Do you want to wake up everyday and hurt people? Or do you want to build people up? Disrupt hate. Contribute to a safer world. Don’t stay silent here. When you are silent, you are contributing to an environment where hate and discrimination proliferate freely.
Tiffany’s university teammate, Noel Paine created the hashtag #IamTiffany and he encourages you to use it. We can also use #TransWomenAreWomen. Put those out there. Show your support in the running space. Don’t let hate be louder than support.
This weekend, consider using #IamTiffany in your running content on your social media channels. Noel Paine has Tiffany’s picture on his FB background as a sign of support.
PS: this piece is about allyship, not me as an author or athlete. If you would like to comment on it, please do. While doing so, I encourage you to centre allyship, not me.
