Rosi Sexton says she’s looked into the science of transitioning and supports Fallon Fox’s career in MMA.
I am someone who complains nonstop about MMA culture and business and one of the biggest complaints I’ve had about the MMA community is how it did Fallon Fox. I’m glad to see Dr. Rosi Sexton come out in support of trans athletes. Especially now, when in her home country of England and in the USA, the center of the MMA world, there are political forces are ramping up attacks on trans people’s lives. You should all read the whole thing, but here’s an important part I’ll share for Tumblr.
“Let’s tackle the most common, and most pernicious, falsehood: Trans women competing in sport are men who self-identify as women in order to gain an unfair advantage. In order to compete in most competitive sports, trans women have to satisfy strict criteria to prove that they have undergone hormone treatment. They have suppressed testosterone levels for a certain period of time (often a minimum 12 months). On top of that is the description of a trans woman who has undergone hormone treatments as “biologically male.” Although biological sex has a number of different elements to it, hormones play a significant role, especially when it comes to performance. The idea that someone who isn’t trans would do this just for an athletic advantage is absurd. In the history of trans people in sport, since Renee Richards competed in the Women’s US Open Tennis Championships in the late 1970s, that has literally never happened.”
