2023-10-31 17:09:36
A boxer from Saguenay deplores the lack of information surrounding the practice of sport for transgender athletes, she who learned an hour before climbing into the ring that she had to face a rival who was born in a man’s body.
“I’m a beginner, I do this because it gives meaning to my life, but I also don’t want to make decisions that have an impact on all the other boxers. It was not up to me to decide, so I preferred to abstain,” he said in an interview with Journal Tuesday Katia Bissonnette.
The latter presented herself at the Golden Gloves, the Quebec Championships, in Victoriaville, last weekend, with only one fight under her belt. But what was her surprise when someone told one of her coaches that she would cross swords with a transgender person, as reported by The Daily.
“We had no information, for example regarding testosterone levels. It was so blurry,” Bissonnette said.
“Conversely, if a woman has become a man and he fights with men, does he also put himself in danger?” she asks herself.
Without consent
Anyone who has been practicing this sport, which requires enormous physical abilities, for a year and a half would have liked more transparency from the organizers.
“What disappointed me the most was that I was not notified. There was no free and informed consent in the face of a very unusual and new situation,” pointed out Bissonnette.
Of course, she’s disappointed that she missed an opportunity to gain more experience, but looking back, she realizes that it’s an opportunity to “be able to think so that the regulations are clearer in the future.”
“I think that Boxe Québec or Boxe Canada must draw the line,” argued the member of the Chicoutimi Boxing Club.
No risk to take
At 36, Katia Bissonnette is not aiming for the Olympic Games. The psychologist and speaker started boxing to meet a need to surpass oneself. “I’m self-employed, I can’t afford to miss work. I know there are risks in boxing and I accept them, but it’s all calculated, with the weight, the number of fights. It is very regulated, but there is a vagueness on this question,” underlined the one who should fight on November 18.
The amateur boxer repeats it: her dilemma is nothing personal with transgender people. Rather, she denounces the lack of information and regulation.
“Everyone can do boxing and I recommend it to everyone. It’s a wonderful sport, but it must be practiced with full knowledge of the facts for the safety of everyone,” concluded Bissonnette.
Here are excerpts from Boxing Canada’s Transgender Athlete Policy:
Recreational transgender athletes are under no obligation to disclose their gender identity or history to Boxing Canada.
Transgender athletes who transitioned before puberty are under no obligation to disclose or communicate their gender identity or history to Boxing Canada and may compete in the appropriate category of the gender with which they identify.
Transgender athletes who have transitioned from male to female are permitted to compete in their respective female category subject to the conditions below:
i) The transgender athlete must have declared that they identify as a woman, knowing that this declaration cannot be changed for at least two years.
ii) ii) The transgender athlete must demonstrate that their total serum testosterone level has remained below 5 nmol/L for at least 12 months before their first or next competition.
iii) iii) The total serum testosterone level of the transgender athlete must remain below 5 nmol/L throughout the desired period of competition in the female category.
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