Boxing New Zealand has announced plans to accommodate transgender athletes in their sport with the establishment of an "Open" category for Olympic-style competition.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, Boxing NZ said the creation of the new section comes after consultation on their draft guidelines for transgender inclusion in community sport, which included raising concerns with Sport New Zealand about their advocacy for sex self-identification.
The Open class will include a person born female who identifies as male and has undertaken or is in the process of a medical transition, a person born male who identifies as female and may or may not have undertaken or is in the process of a medical transition post puberty and people who do not qualify for either the male or the female categories.
It says it comes after considerable discussion about how best to include people who don't identify as their biological sex while maintaining safety and fairness. (Source: 1News)
The female category, as Boxing NZ currently outlines it, are "people born female or people who identify as female who have not undergone male puberty", giving an example of someone who has commenced transition under the age of 12 years with medical proof.
The male section on the other hand simply outlines competitors as "people born male".
President of Boxing New Zealand Steve Hartley said their priority was the safety of competitors in their sport, regardless of any sexual persuasion or gender preference.
"We wish to continue to provide an environment where people benefit from rules that allow for fair and safe competition," Hartley said.
"There is potential for injury or worse if the margins of safety are breached. This is why boxing has sex specific, age specific and weight specific categories to maximise the inclusion of as many people as possible in this great sport, while also prioritising safe and fair competition for all."
In their statement, Boxing NZ outlined data behind their decision to create the category and why male puberty was a key issue, noting from a World Rugby Summary of transgender biology and performance research that there is an average 160% advantage in punching force for a male vs a female boxer.
"Allowing any male, regardless of how he identifies, to box against a female would be to actively accept that the physical safety of a female boxer is worth less than the wishes of a male boxer to be included in the sex category they identify with," Boxing NZ said.
"We will not allow male people who have undergone puberty and who may be undertaking a medical transition to participate in the female category given the evidence around retained advantage."
Boxing NZ added female participants in the sport "welcome the inclusion and participation of gender diverse people in boxing but have made it very clear they will not accept transgender females competing in the female category in the name of inclusion".
The entire boxing community in New Zealand "fully supported" the movement as well, the governing body added.
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