Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Reading Stephanie's transgender sports in high school reminded me about a question I was wondering: What about MtF's after high school who transition? For example, I like to bowl and I'm pretty good at it. So say I was to start transition today, at age 30, hormones etc etc..Now in a few years I decide to bowl on a league again, would I count as female or male? What would the requirements be, would it be fair? Would it differ by sport? I guess I'm just curious to see what everyone thinks or if there's actually like a law or something out that I dunno about.

Good question! I would check with the PBA (Pro Bowlers Association). See what documents and things they would need to admit you. I don't foresee any problems though except for possible a legal name change or maybe a gender marker change. I am curious about it myself so keep us informed please. :)

Why would gender matter in bowling?   I admit I am *cue ominous music* THE WORST BOWLER IN THE WORLD, but I don't see whatever hormones you're running on as being a distinct advantage or disadvantage.  Skill is skill, right?  OK, so I used to be pretty strong and I bowled like a drunken Fred Flintstone, but I don't think physical strength helped me at all- in fact, probably the opposite was true.

I used bowling as an example and cuz well I like it, but could apply to any sport as well. Strength does help in bowling, being able to throw it harder and with more revolutions or hook helps knock down more pins, but skill is very important as well. Throwing to the same spot with the same speed and revs definitely takes time to get good at. Power don't matter if you throw in the gutter constantly lol.

Quote from: LivingTheDream on February 28, 2014, 09:33:06 PMPower don't matter if you throw in the gutter constantly lol.

Not if you raise the bumpers like me :3

Quote from: ath on February 28, 2014, 09:41:04 PM
Not if you raise the bumpers like me :3

*giggle* You too? ;D

Cheaters!

I knew a girl from my school who transitioned that plays lacrosse that plays on a men's team. However, there is a MMA fighter that fights women.

I think it depends on the sport and the organization that manages the sport. As for bowling I don't think you will have an unfair advantage because your T will be in female range and T is what would give you an advantage.

As mentioned earlier, check out the relevant legislation for whatever sport you want to play! I'm 29 and started playing netball last year, (a woman's comp) a few months after starting HRT. They had no issues with transgender players. I was completely nervous to begin with but It's been the most fun I've had playing sport in my whole life! As far as any advantages, I think you'll find woman can get pretty competitive and can definitely make up for strength in other ways! Strength for me since starting HRT is no where near what it used to be anyway so there's no real advantage there either!

I used to play basketball literally day and night when I was younger and injury free. Since I started HRT, my muscle mass has decreased significantly, which is exactly what I wanted anyways. I used to have huge, muscular thigh muscles. Now, I'm pretty weak overall and can't jump worth a damn. Basketball is one of the few things I geniunely liked about being stuck as a male bodied person, the fact that I could "play with the big boys" if I had to.

Most sports are in limbo on this issue. There's a GRS requirement for many, HRT requirement for others but it's definitely a per-sport kinda thing.

That said, you'd better believe that your body will *NOT* work like it did before after HRT. The muscle mass losses are significant and I can't really stress enough how much that affects your performance at sports.

the more I get into the effects of HRT...


The more I feel like I would be a fair match competing against other women..
I don't think that going through puberty has a particularly distinct advantage for most MtF athletes after a year + on T blockers.

So female, for physiological reasons alone.

I'm looking at joining a women's intramural soccer team next fall. It should be fine, as hopefully I'll have had my gender marker changed by then. As long as you've had your gender marker changed, you shouldn't encounter resistance. If you do, you can legally fight it.