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Lia Thomas in a college race

Photo: Josh Reynolds / AP

The American trans swimmer Lia Thomas has called on the International Court of Arbitration for Sport to declare the regulations governing the participation of trans swimmers invalid. In order to be able to take part in women's competitions, trans swimmers currently have to prove that they have not gone through male puberty. The rules of the world swimming association World Aquatics have been in effect since June 2022.

On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne confirmed that it had registered an application from 25-year-old Thomas. As the Cas announced, the arbitration proceedings began last September and were subject to “strict confidentiality rules”. It has now been agreed to publish “general information”. The British newspaper “The Telegraph” had reported on the matter the day before.

In March 2022, Thomas made headlines around the world when she won a title at college championships in the United States. Three months later, World Aquatics decided on new conditions of participation for trans athletes that amounted to exclusion. One must protect competitive equality, explained World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam at the time.

Thomas believes rules are invalid and illegal

According to the Cas statement, Thomas accepts that fair competition is a legitimate goal. "However, Ms. Thomas argues that the (rules) are invalid and unlawful because they discriminate against her," the Cas wrote. Thomas refers, among other things, to the Olympic Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights. A date for the hearing has not yet been set.

At the Swimming World Cup in Berlin, World Aquatics tried to allow trans swimmers to take part through a third, “open” category. World Aquatics would have been the first major sports association to break with the binary gender system that is firmly anchored in sport. However, the additional category - in addition to the one for men and women - did not come about because there were no registrations.

“Open” category failed

World Aquatics' move had previously been heavily criticized. A third category is “segregation,” which turns trans people into “second-class people,” Petra Weitzel, chairwoman of the German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality, told SPIEGEL.

In recent years, other international sports associations, including World Athletics, have also adopted similar rules to World Aquatics. The exclusion of trans athletes is justified by the assumption that trans women still have physical advantages over other women even after gender reassignment measures.

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