OII Press Release on sex tests at the Olympics

Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:31 am by Curtis

OII Denounces Sexist Discrimination and Human Rights Violations of Intersexed Athletes in Beijing

http://www.intersexualite.org/Olympics.html

The Organisation Intersex International is deeply committed to ending human rights violations of intersexed people around the world. OII has learned that the Chinese medical establishment, in compliance with International Olympic Committee procedures, will be testing athletes in Beijing who are suspected as being men competing as women. The use of tests such as chromosome and SRY "sex tests" in Olympic sport is neither scientific nor humane. It is an example of the abuse of scientific fact by the IOC, and their assault on human dignity. Men masquerading as women can easily be identified by a simple appearance check and hormonal tests. “Men” masquerading as “women” have nothing to do with intersexed and transitioned athletes, who will all be the victims of this so called “sex-change crackdown”.

"Chinese to check athletes' genders in sex-change crackdown at Beijing Olympics" by Ben English
The Australian, July 27, 2008
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24086278-5014197,00.html

So called “genetic sex” tests of all women athletes were dropped in 1999 by the IOC, as they were found to be invalid. "There is no genetic test which can accurately determine an individual's sex," states Professor M. Italiano, M.B.B.S. (A.M.), advisor to Organisation Intersex International on Biosex Variations. Italiano adds, "These tests can only discriminate against intersexed and transitioned athletes, and in fact, they do so based upon a complete misunderstanding of scientific facts. Furthermore, there is no 'sex test' used in the Olympics which can separate intersex and transitioned individuals from each other." Italiano noted that it has also not been shown that intersexed athletes have an unfair advantage over typical females and males, based upon any of the results of these tests. The IOC knows this, and this is one of the reasons why they abolished them as a general screening device in 1999. But they should have abolished chromosome and SRY "sex tests" of women athletes, as it discriminates against them, are invalid and are not necessary for identifying "men cheaters". When an athlete reaches elite status and has been chosen to represent her country in a world arena, the thing she needs the least is to be publicly humiliated on an international stage, based upon separatist, sexist ideology and mistaken beliefs.

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November 2008