So many have spoken and written about this issue, but the voices that have been sorely needed are those of fellow female athletes saying that it is fine for Caster to compete as she is b/c sports are all about having different advantages, & calling out the IAAF, IOC & CAS (Court of Sport) on their racism and bias.

Olympian and sports legend Casey Legler does just that in her essay, “Some of Us Are Born This Way: Female Athletes and Testosterone Limits.” Most significantly, Legler recognizes her own white privilege, and calls attention to the class and race dynamics involved in this ruling, as seen in the excerpt below:

“All of us, even me as an unruly, irreverent athlete, were celebrated. One difference I cannot help but notice between myself, Phelps, and Thorpe versus Caster, is whiteness. This is important, and especially so when we begin to look at the make-up of the ruling board members.

The ethics board of the IAAF (who oversees authenticity and integrity in athletics) is made up of ten members, three of whom are women. Only one member is black. The ruling party of the CAS (the body that litigates grievances brought by athletes to the IAAF and who submitted the final ruling) has 19 members, nine women, only one of whom is a black woman. The majority of the judges are from the global north, almost all of whom have been educated in a former colonial empire like the U.K. Rulings like this, particularly when they fall on the bodies of women, queer women, queer women of color, must be called out immediately for what they are: misogynist, racist, and homophobic.”

It’s FANTASTIC and so sorely needed, and we thank Legler for standing up and being an exceptional ally! Please share widely.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/05/the-hypocritical-policing-of-caster-semenyas-body.html?fbclid=IwAR0dLCc1_OEgiRC9JjEed9KVoZ86okchcXgnvY3G3zpawXDApN9Tuv-aFxM