Sexual “Disorder” and the Olympics

[Butterfly]

Sexual "Disorder" and the Olympics
by KATHERINE FRANKE
26 January, 2010


http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/genderandsexualitylawblog/2010/01/26/sexual-disorder-and-the-olympics/


Mai Ratakonda offers this reaction to the International Olympic Committee's recent recommendations on how to handle athletes whose sexual identity is called into question, such as Caster Semenya.  Ratakonda is a second year law student at Columbia Law School, a staff member of the Columbia Law Review and received her B.A. from Georgetown University.

The International Olympic Committee just doesn't know what to do with intersex athletes. The IOC convened a panel of medical experts to attempt to resolve the dilemma of whether athletes like Caster Semanya, who identify as female but have "male characteristics," should be allowed to compete with other women. The experts' recommendations last week stated that these intersex athletes should have their "disorders" diagnosed and treated on a case-by-case basis before the athletes are allowed to compete at all. These recommendations did not explicitly touch on the issue brought up most frequently since Caster Semanya's case has been publicized- whether allowing intersex athletes to compete as females is fair to other female athletes.