Lauren Boebert has criticized the trans guidelines for USA Boxing
Despite the fact that USA Boxing’s trans participation policy makes it extremely challenging for transgender people to participate in the sport at all, controversial Republican Lauren Boebert has criticized it.
The new Olympic-style boxing national governing body’s stringent requirements for trans men and women to compete include undergoing full gender-affirming surgery and long-term hormone testing after surgery.
Boebert took to X/Twitter on New Year’s Eve to convey her displeasure with the rules, calling them pitiful and repulsive.
The Colorado lawmaker wrote, “Call this what it is.” “They will permit people to assault women in a boxing ring.”
Former dynamic swimmer Riley Gaines, who is anti-trans and told Fox News the plan is “taking us back in time and it’s absolutely misogynistic,” has also criticized the new direction.
American professional athlete Ebanie Bridges also contributed, stating that she would never support the new rules.
She wrote on social media, “It’s bad enough that transgender women are breaking records in other activities like track and field, swimming, and powerlifting.” “But in combat sports, where the goal is to hurt you, not just break a record,” it’s somewhat different from them breaking our heads.
“The masculine maturity your body had gone through before you decided you were now a woman won’t be reversed by cutting off your bits and adding boobs,” she continued.
According to the policy, anyone under the age of 18 who wishes to participate in the game must do so as the sex they were assigned at birth rather than the gender they identify with.
Over the age of 18, trans men and women are required to identify their sex and have undergone “complete gender-reassignment surgery.”
For a minimum of four years following surgery, the athlete may take weekly hormone tests and present USA Boxing records of hormone levels.
Before their first competition, trans women must show that their serum testosterone level has been below five nanomoles per liter for at least 48 months. They must maintain this level for the duration of their desire to compete in the adult category.
Transgender men must show that their total testosterone level, which must be above 10nmol/L, has been consistent for 48 months prior to their first competition. They must keep this level throughout the time they attempt to compete in the adult category.
If these requirements are not met, the transgender athlete may be suspended for a full year. Finally, testosterone levels must be retested.
Due to the high cost of gender-affirming surgery when it is not covered by insurance and the protracted waiting time afterward when testosterone monitoring occurs, these rules will make it very difficult for a trans person to participate.
The new guidelines for USA Boxing come after a wave of different sporting organizations that severely limit or outright forbid trans athletes from competing.
Trans athletes were prohibited from competing in women’s events in June 2022 by World Aquatics, the international organization that oversees swimming. Following this, World Athletics barred transgender women from competitors in March 2023, and World Cycling did the same two months later.
Guidelines to avoid or limit trans participation have also been introduced in other sports like angling, badminton, and even chess.
Anti-trans politicians in the US have also criticized transgender student athletes and individuals, with a number of states passing legislation that forbids trans youth from competing on teams that align with their gender identity.
