Transgender Victoria director says eligibility in women’s sport should be based on body mass not sex

The Executive Director of Transgender Victoria has suggested eligibility in women’s sport be based on body mass, not an athlete’s gender.

In light of Sam Newman’s controversial video, Sally Goldner told Neil Mitchell Newman’s comments on athletes are “baseless”.

“Why don’t we have these arguments in men’s sport where there’s shorter and taller men and men with different body mass competing against each other?” She said.

“Rather than saying no transgender women in broader women’s sport, look at objective measures rather than opinion taken as fact.

“To instantly assume a Trans woman has an advantage is not accurate.”

NM: So would you say that body mass of a transgender person was at a certain level, you’d disqualify them from that sport?

SG: If it was over a certain level, maybe five to 10 per cent from the average.

NM: Would transgender women accept that, you can play this sport but only if you meet this guideline?

SG: I think that’s fair, and the current Victorian Equal Opportunity Human Rights Commission guidelines are based on this sort of thing as well, so it’s not like this hasn’t been thought through already. We have the evidence, we have ways on dealing with it.

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“It was juvenile and immature certainly,” Neil said of Newman’s video.

“But to go after him I think is overreacting.”