Transgender woman in California sues CrossFit over exclusion from female fitness competition

[The Straight Story]

SAN FRANCISCO — A transgender woman in Northern California has sued the company behind the popular CrossFit workouts for refusing to let her compete in the female division of its annual fitness competitions.

The lawsuit brought Thursday by Chloie Jonsson, 34, accuses CrossFit Inc. of violating her rights under a California law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

Jonsson's complaint says she was born male but has been living as a woman since she was a teenager and underwent sex reassignment surgery eight years ago. The surgery, coupled with the female hormones she takes, satisfied the state's requirements for her to be recognized as female on her birth certificate and other official documents.

Her lawyer, Waukeen McCoy, said Jonsson, who works as a personal trainer and is an avid CrossFit practitioner, first spoke to company representatives about her background a year ago after a teammate learned that participants in the Reebok CrossFit Games were required to register according to their gender at birth.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/249105011.html

[Donald Ian Rankin]

1. I'm afraid I think they're right and she's wrong.

Having been born male may well provide an advantage over other competitors who've been female all their lives, and I think that advantage is an unfair one.

Competitive sport is one area where what matters is biology, not identity.

In most sports, both male-female and female-male transsexuals should be permitted to compete in all-male events even if they currently aren't, but not in all-female ones.

[Warpy]

2. Yes, this is a tough one.

While she's lost a lot of the muscle mass she would have had as a male, her bone structure is still male and that gives her an unfair advantage over cis-women in sports that require it.

[Ms. Toad]

3. Not necesarily -

Since she has been living as a woman since her teens, she may well have taken the medications available now to halt puberty - which would have made her bone structure more feminine.

[seveneyes]

6. You are correct. Biology is a fact that can't be ignored by policy

There are male and female physical competitions. Perhaps a third or fourth category should be created for those who identify outside of their birth physical gender.

[okaawhatever]

4. Agreed. This is a tough call. If it can be shown that the female hormones have negated any

advantage she has over the other female participants then I would would agree with Ms. Johnson, but not if it gives her an advantage. Time for a new category?

[seattledo]

5. I don't want men competing against me...

but I'm sure that is an unpopular opinion here. I work hard, but there is no way I could compete with a man in good shape.