Bush advises against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports

Sports Minister Bernie Bush has described World Athletics’ proposal to continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in female events as “not fair”.

The international governing body for athletics is currently proposing changes to the sport’s eligibility criteria, which would prevent athletes with too much testosterone from competing.

Bush told the Cayman Compass on Tuesday, 31 Jan. that allowing transgender athletes to compete against women was unfair.

“This is my opinion, not the opinion of my government, or my ministry,” he said.

World Athletics called the suggested amendments its “preferred option” which have been sent to member federations for feedback before a vote in March, the BBC reported.

Under the new proposal, athletes will be required to keep testosterone levels at half the current permitted limit and maintain them at that level for two years, which is double the time currently stipulated.

Despite their efforts for fairness, Bush said it’s impossible for there to be equality when there are clear differences between competitors.

He suggests that a separate event should be put in place instead, similar to a recent proposal put forward by the World Boxing Council, one of the four governing bodies for that sport, which suggested creating a new category which would allow transgender athletes to compete in the sport in their own competition.

‘Not fair… plain and simple’

“I think it’s only tennis [in the four Grand Slams] that females get the same amount of money as men, otherwise everything else is lopsided and this is another case again where a bunch of men are looking to be popular, looking to check some box and it’s not fair to woman athletes, plain and simple.”

Bush said he is not anti-transgender people per se, but he is advocating for female athletes to be treated fairly.

“Live your life the way you want to live it but… we have to use facts, and facts are right there to be seen and we must be fair to female athletes.”

Bush made reference to an event that took place last year, when transgender swimmer Lia Thomas beat two Olympic silver medallists to win the 500-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Many, including Bush, believe the result was only possible due to Thomas’ biological advantage in being born male.

While Cayman does not appear to have any transgender athletes competing at the moment, Bush is encouraging local associations to ensure the playing field is fair for female athletes.

“If the local associations see it fit to make transgenders go against females, people are going to start to boycott the athletes themselves. There are many cases where swimmers refuse to swim and to me that’s bad… But it has nothing to do with the individual. It’s just the principle of it.

“I cannot tell an association who to pick, or who not to pick, but if they are using my facilities, I can stop them from using my facilities and I can stop them from getting any money from my coffers.”

Bush admits that his comments may stir up backlash – but that’s something he welcomes.

“In the Cayman Islands, when we disagree, we like to go behind doors and we never discuss things in the open so that we can educate and help each other,” he said. “A lot of people are shying away from this conversation, but we must always say what is right.”

He added that people could not truly understand how the regulations affect female athletes in their respective sports, until they were in that position themselves.

“I ask people, have you ever coached a female athlete? Were you a female athlete? Do you know what female athletes go through? They have many bodily functions that at times can make it very difficult to compete.

“And I’ll tell you something, I have coached the women’s national track team and I built the female national football programme, and this is very unfair to the women athletes.”