Should Transgender Women Be Allowed To Compete At The Olympics?

Is it fair for transgender women to compete in the olympics?

Male-born athletes who have transitioned to female are set to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. But is it fair? The international olympic committee currently requires that a trans woman maintains a particular level of testosterone for twelve months in order to compete as a self-identifying woman.

Some opponents of this argue that this policy completely ignores the physical advantages in speed, height and strength that a male-born athlete will have. If this trend continues, is women's sport in danger of being erased? Are women at risk of being pushed out of their own spaces in a way they cannot biologically compete with?

A petition on change.org currently has over 35,000 signatures asking the committee to suspend its policy on transgender athletes.

One such athlete is Laurel Hubbard, a 43 year old from New Zealand, who will be competing in the women's weightlifting division.

Hubbard transitioned to being a woman in 2012 at the age of 35, and had been competing in male weightlifting competitions before this.

Should this be allowed just because it is not explicitly against the rules? Or should the rules be changed to mitigate what might well be unfair to women competing at sport's highest level?

I don't have the answers. I can only ask the questions.