Kusum*

While science has invaded nature, nature too plays truant at times – until a few decades back it was inconceivable that a person apparently belonging to a particular gender, in fact medically belongs to the other gender  –  thus medically a man could pass off as a female and vice versa. Sex change through surgical and other treatments is a commonly known thing now – though it gives rise to many issues and enigmatic situations. An issue that is of great significance in the world of sports especially – is regarding the gender of the athlete. Sports occupy a very important position not only at the individual, state or national level but also at the international level. No wonder all precautions are taken to ensure fairness.  Conducting of dope tests is well known; however, determining the gender of the player is equally significant – especially in some sports. The news of Santhi Soundarajan “not being a woman” made headlines last month. Santhi who won silver in the women’s 800 metres at the Doha Asiad and was also, reportedly given a prize of rupees 15 lakh by the Tamil Nadu government has failed a gender test. She is a ‘male’ and not a ‘female’, the tests revealed.

In a very interesting case, in the 1932 Olympics, Hilda Strike, narrowly lost the 100 metres by a few inches to Stella Walsh, a Polish born American. Walsh died in 1980 when she was caught in the crossfire during an armed robbery at a Cleveland, Ohio, supermarket. The autopsy revealed that she was a man, and not a woman. Hilda then sought her gold medal. John Holt of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, observed: “On the basis of this reported inquest on the late Stella Walsh, Hilda is quite entitled to consider herself to have been the world’s fastest woman at that time”. However, no action was possible. In one case from America, Rennee Richards, a ranked male tennis player in men’s age group of 30 and over, underwent a sex change surgery to become a woman. After the surgery “she” sought to enter the ladies singles competition in the U.S. Open. The U.S. Tennis Association asked her to take and pass a chromosome test before such permission could be granted. The court found that this was “grossly unfair, discriminatory and violative of her right”. It concluded that previously the Association had relied on observation of primary and secondary sex characteristics to determine the sex of the potential competitors, that the defendants had instituted the test – which Richards would have failed – for the sole purpose of excluding her; and that she is now a female “as her external organs, her appearance and her psychological and social status were that of a woman and since in this case the event happened long back and the discovery was made only after the death of the gold medalist offering an epitaph to the tale, “he said, “it is just one of the curious stories which surround the world of sports”.

In 1964 during the Tokyo Olympics, Ewa Klobu Kowaka of Poland competed in the 100 metres dash and won the bronze medal. In 1965 she failed a chromosome test before a championship meet and was barred from international competition. She was stripped of all her records. Ever since this incident, women athletes have to pass through a gender clinic for sex verification before participating in the games. Some players found it too embarrassing to submit to the scrutiny and chose not to play, e.g. Tamara Press of Soviet Union who had won a gold medal in 1960 Rome Olympics and the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Her sister Irina who came first in the 80 metre hurdles in Rome also refused to submit to the test.

“Sexual structure was anatomically similar to that of a person born female who had suffered a total hysterectomy and ovariectomy” (Richards v. U.S. Tennis Association, New York Supreme Court, 1977).

It would be of interest to note that in the 1980s an athlete aged about 19 was allegedly refused permission to participate in a Kabaddi tournament in India because she had started showing signs of transformation by developing masculine features like moustaches, etc. This girl had won laurels in the game earlier.

Issues of vital significance arise in such cases. Now with medical advancements and reassignment of sex, what would be the criterion? Not in all cases of sexual identity aberrations in sex change are feasible, practical or possible – may be due to financial or other factors; what would be the status of such person? It is not unlikely that often, or at times, the person himself/herself may not be aware of chromosomal or harmonic changes/conflicts in his/her body – would such person be held guilty of fraud or misrepresentation as to his gender identity? Is gender screening mandatory or desirable in all cases? Is it random? Is it only if somebody complains? What if a person refuses to go for the test; would he/she be debarred from the game? Is it not invasion and against a person’s dignity to undergo such test? These are complex issues involving law, ethics and decency and need a concerted debate. Interests of the concerned players, the other competitors and the game itself need to be kept in mind.