AFL Should Reconsider Ban on Hannah Mouncey
Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey will be banned in the women’s Australian Football League (AFL) next year because of her ‘transgender strength, stamina and physique’. Confounding the situation, Hannah was previously found to be well within the testosterone limits permitted by the International Olympic Committee that the AFL has adopted for transgender athletes. Lee Gaskin, a reporter working for the AFL in Australia, said that the governing body deemed her ‘physical disparity is significant and would give unreasonable advantage’.
Hudson Taylor, executive director of Athlete Ally said the following:
“The AFL’s decision to ban Hannah Mouncey from competing is yet another example of the drastic need for sport governing bodies to adopt consistent policies for transgender athletes,” said Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of Athlete Ally. “Decisions like this put a ceiling on the hopes and dreams of the transgender athletes who someday strive to play at the professional level.”
“In addition, the agreed upon standard for the ability of transgender athletes to compete according to their gender identity is that their hormonal levels are within an equitable range as their competitors. Hannah Mouncey’s testosterone levels are well within that equitable range. To arbitrarily deem her size, weight, and other physical characteristics an unreasonable advantage when cisgender female athletes around the world have the same physical qualities, creates a prejudicial framework for transgender athletes that is not being imposed on cisgender athletes.”