美国国家公共电台 NPR--New policy from world swimming body effectively bans transgender women

New policy from world swimming body effectively bans transgender women

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep speak with AP sports writer Ciaran Fahey about a new policy by swimming's world governing body that restricts transgender women from competing in elite³ events like the Olympics.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The world governing body for swimming effectively barred transgender women from elite competitions. The group is known as FINA, and its new policy keeps transgender women out of the world championships and the Olympics. The sole exception would be women who completed their transitions before the age of 12. Ciaran Fahey is a sports writer for The Associated Press and is in Budapest, covering swimming's world championships. Welcome.

CIARAN FAHEY: Thank you.

INSKEEP: Why did FINA decide this now?

FAHEY: FINA - OK, this goes back to recommendations made from the International Olympic Committee in November that sought to clarify the rules for transgender athletes. It's an issue that has been rumbling⁴ on for quite some time. And FINA, I guess, was the first sports body, I think, to try and seek some clarification just to make the rules clearer for everybody involved.

INSKEEP: Well, it certainly is a matter of debate in the United States. There's been much discussion of a college swimmer here, Lia Thomas, who swam as a man, then swam as a woman and set some women's records. But this does seem quite rare. It's quite rare, it would seem, that you would have a trans woman swimmer and quite rare that you would have one who's setting records and upsetting people. Is this any more common at the global level?

FAHEY: It's not common, but I guess it is an issue because these are bodies that want to be seen as inclusive and want to have competition open for everybody. It's why FINA has also announced the creation of an open category. So on one hand, it's excluding - effectively, excluding transgender athletes from women's competition because it wants to promote fairness, as well as inclusivity. And it has deemed that testosterone is effectively a performance enhancer and that anyone who has gone through puberty and received the benefit of testosterone would have an advantage, then, over women in women's competition. And this is the reason for that decision.

INSKEEP: And there is a lively debate, to say the least, about that question of testosterone. Let me ask you about this open category. So there would be three categories of swimming at an event if anybody wants to take advantage of the third category, men, women and open?

FAHEY: Yeah, that's effectively what has been suggested. So what FINA announced was that it would create a working group to finalize⁵ those details. So this is very much down the road. It's not something that is coming into effect straight away. But they're going to spend something like six months discussing this, trying to figure out how to make this happen. And those discussions are only starting today.

INSKEEP: Did anybody push back on this policy or ask why they should even be addressing this when it seems so rare?

FAHEY: I mean, it's hard to answer. It's something - it's obviously very divisive and - but it's something that members felt needed to be addressed. And because it's just been going on for some time, you have athletes who are being excluded from competition, from, you know, Olympic events and so on. And it was just really to create some clarity for that.

INSKEEP: Oh, that's interesting. So some at FINA are framing this not as an exclusionary⁶ policy but inclusive because they will create this open category and assure that someone who wants to compete will compete in one category or another. Is that what you're telling me?

FAHEY: That's it. I mean, FINA has proposed this as a gender¹ inclusion policy, and that's what it's called. It's effectively an exclusive policy because it's excluding transgender women from women's competition.

INSKEEP: Ciaran Fahey, AP sports writer in Budapest, thanks so much.

FAHEY: OK, thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF CORRE'S "PROCEED")

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 rumbling   

n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词

参考例句：

• The earthquake began with a deep [low] rumbling sound. 地震开始时发出低沉的隆隆声。
• The crane made rumbling sound. 吊车发出隆隆的响声。

5 finalize   

v.落实，定下来

参考例句：

• Let us finalize tonight.让我们今天晚上干完
• 。At the same time,industrial designers work with engineers to finalize components and assembly.同时，工业设计师和工程师一道来完成部件和组装部分的工作。

6 exclusionary   

adj.排斥（性）的，排除在外的

参考例句：

• Play not finish, uncle fidgeting, cut exclusionary. 戏未演完，叔父坐立不安，仓皇退席。 来自互联网
• Procecutor: I am asking you to recognize the absurdity of the exclusionary rule. 检察官：我是在请求您认识到这个排除规则的荒谬性。 来自互联网