Justice for Trans Athletes - (Emerald Studies in Sport and Gender) by Ali Durham Greey & Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (Hardcover)

About the Book

Bringing insights from sociology, philosophy, science and law, contributors present cogent analyses of these developments and explore the way forward, providing thoughtful and original recommendations for changes to policies and practices that are inclusive, innovative and democratic.

Book Synopsis

The last decade has seen significant changes in global attitudes, policies and practices that impact the lives of trans people, but the world of sport has been slow to follow these initiatives.

Contributors to this book document the formidable social-cultural and legal challenges facing trans athletes, particularly girls and women, at the global, national, and local levels, in contexts ranging from school sport to international competition. They demonstrate how proponents of trans exclusion rely on flawed or inconclusive science, selectively employed to support their purported goal of 'protecting women's sport'. Politicians in the US, UK, and elsewhere who have shown little interest in women or in sport exploit the issue to advance broader conservative agendas, while hostile mainstream and social media coverage exacerbates the problem.

Bringing insights from sociology, philosophy, science and law, contributors present cogent analyses of these developments and explore the way forward, providing thoughtful and original recommendations for changes to policies and practices that are inclusive, innovative and democratic.

Review Quotes

The sudden controversies over trans women's place in elite sports call for investigation. This book traces how moral panics have been fabricated to justify prejudice and exclusion. It carefully unpacks the policies of different sports bodies, and shows how a spurious rhetoric of 'science' is invoked to maintain social barriers. Equally important, the authors offer a positive approach based on principles of justice. In brief: an important resource.

About the Author

Ali Durham Greey (they/them) is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. Their work examines the experiences of trans and non-binary people in sport and in education. Ali is a SSHRC-Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholar and a retired member of the Canadian Olympic boxing team.

Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (she/her) is Professor Emerita, University of Toronto. Her work as a researcher and activist on gender and sport issues began in the 1980s, and her critiques of the Olympic industry include seven books, most recently The Olympic Games: A Critical Approach (Emerald, 2020).