Sheldon Chanel: Council President, Lakhan Clarifies Transgender Debate

The inclusion of transgender athletes in the girls’ division of the Coca Cola Games is in line with international rules and ought to be respected, says Pacific Games Council president Vidhya Lakhan.

The issue was highlighted in a Fiji Times report this week, which quoted Athletics Fiji President Fili­moni Vuli Waqa saying transgen­der athletes would be allowed to compete from next year.

The body’s decision has sparked a nationwide debate among coaches, athletes, parents and fans, with disagreement over where the line should be drawn between sexes for the purpose of athletic competi­tion.

But Lakhan, who has been a sports administrator for roughly 60 years, believes most of the reaction so far has been based on emotions rather than facts.

“Sports belongs to the interna­tional federations. If you are a member of an international body, you have to abide by the dictates of your parent body,” he said.

“In this case, a lot of people are giving their opinion and that is fine. But my opinion and your opin­ion really don’t count. Athletics Fiji made a choice to be a member of World Athletics and they are ob­ligated to abide by those rules.”

According to Lakhan, sporting bodies were free to sever ties with international federations and cre­ate their own rules to suit the local environment.

However, this could come at the cost of losing international sup­port, recognition and funding.

Some prominent athletes have also weighed in on the debate, claiming that the decision would herald the ‘end of women in sports’ in Fiji.

But Lakhan disagreed with the statements, saying decisions at the international level were based on research and facts.

There is also no reliable data on the number of transgender high school athletes in Fiji.

“Don’t you think World Athletics would have taken that (the death of women’s sports) into considera­tion when making the decision?” he said.

“What’s the basis of those state­ments? Has the person who made it done any research. Has he seen any decline of women’s sports. Women’s sport is actually growing. Some years ago, we didn’t have a women’s rugby 7s or soccer team.”

The issue of transgender athletes competing alongside women is not new to the Pacific.

Transgender weightlifter, Laurel Hubbard’s gold medal-winning per­formance for New Zealand at July’s Pacific Games in Samoa drew wide­spread criticism.

Reacting to the win, Samoan Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Maliel­egaoi, said transgender athletes were “ought to participate in these Games in their own category.”

Women’s rights groups also said Hubbard had an “unfair” advan­tage against women and should not be allowed to compete in the future.

However, the International Olym­pic Committee (IOC) issued guide­lines in 2015 stating that transgen­der athletes can compete alongside women as long as their testoster­one levels are below 10 nanomoles per litre at least 12 months prior to competition, according to Reuters.

Despite that, some critics say the science shows that such rules don’t mitigate the fact that biological male athletes still enjoy natural ad­vantages.

According to Lakhan, the Pacific Games Council allowed Hubbard to compete after receiving approval from the International Weightlift­ing Federation (IWF).

“We don’t own any of the sports offered at the Pacific Games; they’re owned by international fed­erations,” he said.

“So, we write to them and say we want to include the sport in our games. They say yes, but these are the rules and we have to comply.”

Lakhan added that the current position of World Athletics on transgender athletes is not cast in iron.

It can be changed but the change will only come from World Athlet­ics, he said.

Edited by Osea Bola

Feedback: sheldon.chanel@fijisun.com.fj