It was an attempt and it failed. The world swimming association World Aquatics wanted to start a pilot project with a new, gender-open rating category at the World Cup in Berlin at the beginning of October and test the use of an open category in practice. But no one registered for the competitions.
In 2022, the world association decided to introduce new regulations for transgender activists. The first steps were implemented in spring 2023, but a separate open category was not included in the rules. It remains unclear how the world association will proceed following the failure of the experiment in Berlin.
“Forced outing instead of inclusion”
“We had already criticized the introduction of this class in advance. The fact that no one came forward is understandable and not surprising to us,” Mara Geri, member of the federal board of the Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany (LSVD), told DW. “There aren’t that many professional athletes in swimming. Joining such a special group as a trans person is close to being forced out.”
This involves risks and disadvantages for these active people, says Geri. “This makes trans people second-class people who don’t really belong. For us, this is definitely not inclusion, but a very big step towards exclusion.”
Study: Fear of discrimination and exclusion
It’s not just elite sport where transgender people feel unaccepted or even isolated. In a first comprehensive European Investigation by the German Sport University Cologne of LGBTQ+ activists in 2019, 20 percent of those surveyed said they did not practice their sports – for fear of discrimination, exclusion or negative comments. Trans people in particular (56 percent), and especially trans men (73 percent), felt excluded from certain sports because of their gender identity. Almost all respondents agreed: homophobia and transphobia are a problem in sport.
Berlin football as a pioneer
The Berlin Football Association (BFV) took a new path in 2019 by being one of the first sports organizations in Germany to set up inclusive regulations: people with the gender entry “diverse” can choose whether they want to play for men or women. In addition, trans people are eligible to play for the team they choose during gender reassignment.
“You have to differentiate. We have people who play in amateur leagues and those who just play like that,” Michaela Jessica Tschitschke told DW. She advises the BFV on the topic of sexual diversity. According to her, around 15 trans people are currently integrated into games on Berlin football pitches. “These people mainly play in women’s teams. They are usually more open to transgender people [anderes Wort für transgender – Anm. d. Red.] People,” says Tschitschke. According to the BFV representative’s experience, integration doesn’t work very well for trans men who want to play in men’s teams: “Unfortunately, most of them then stop. That’s a real shame because we often accompanied these people for a long time.”
Problems on the pitch
Even if the trans person is fully integrated into their own team, there are often still prejudices among the opposing teams, says Tschitschke. “Then problems arise. Unfortunately, it usually involves the accusation of a performance advantage that is assumed.” In the case of trans men who get testosterone and continue playing on women’s teams, there is certainly a physical advantage, says Tschitschke. However, she could not determine a general advantage. As a trans woman, she herself played in a Berlin women’s team. Today the 43-year-old is a coach at the club.
Last year, the German Football Association (DFB) adopted the Berlin regulation into its playing regulations. “Some state associations are already implementing this. Some are still stalling,” says Tschitschke. Overall, the number of people affected is quite small, but something good has been achieved. “We have already changed a lot,” says Tschitschke.