Thursday, Dec 2, 2010 17:30 ET
LPGA welcomes trans golfers. What's next?
An expert explains the controversial new ruling, and why the debate won't end any time soon
By Tracy Clark-Flory
http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2010/12/02/trans_athletes/index.htmlIt's been quite a year for transgender athletes. There came news today that the LPGA has voted to do away with its "female at birth" requirement for competition. The verdict follows a suit in October by male-to-female trans golfer Lana Lawless. Last month, a transgender female-to-male athlete premiered on George Washington University's women's basketball team, putting the NAACP's cloudy policy on trans athletes to the test. And, of course, debate continued this year over South African runner Caster Semenya's sex, despite her being cleared for competition after intense international scrutiny.
Even as verdicts are reached in these individual cases, it remains clear that we yet to come to arrive at a comprehensive conclusion. I called Kate Bornstein, a trans woman and author of "Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us," to chat about the ruling and why issues surrounding transgender athletes are not going away any time soon.
