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Los Gatos transgender woman fights to join CrossFit strength competition
By Mark Emmons
[email protected]
POSTED: 03/14/2014 02:23:36 PM PDT0 COMMENTS| UPDATED: 3 DAYS AGO
Just like countless other exercise fanatics, Chloie Jonsson wanted to test herself in a CrossFit strength competition. The popular fitness events culminate each summer with men and women being crowned as "The Fittest on Earth."
But Jonsson is a transgender woman and was told she would have to register as a man.
And now the intensely private Los Gatos woman has taken on a very public fight by filing a discrimination suit against CrossFit Inc., focusing national attention on the redrawing of lines about what it means to be a man and a woman in athletic competitions.
"I don't want to be the face of anything, even though that's the way it seems right now for the transgender community," said Jonsson, 34, a personal trainer. "I just wanted to do my thing."
For Jonsson, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2006, the issue is clear-cut. She is a woman. But the fitness company contends she would have an unfair advantage against other women.
"Their position never changed: If you were born with a penis, you have to compete as a man," said WaukeenMcCoy, the San Francisco attorney who represents Jonsson. "Their policy is you have to register with the sex you are born with. But California law is very clear that you cannot discriminate on the basis of gender identity."
CrossFit did not return calls for comment.
Helen Carroll, the sports project director for the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, said CrossFit's position is behind the times. Other organizations allow transgender athletes to compete after they meet specified guidelines -- including the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA.
"What CrossFit has done in this case is archaic," Carroll said. "It sounds like they didn't even bother to Google the issue. They're taking the approach that they just don't want to deal with it. But it's not going away. Everyone from professional sports to club teams are dealing with diversity issues and they're doing it well. It's really not that hard."
CrossFit is an intensive fitness regimen that, according to the company's website, has spawned a worldwide network of more than 5,500 affiliated gyms and 35,000 accredited trainers. A company marketing tool has been the months-long competitions that end with the televised Reebok CrossFit Games.
Jonsson is a believer in the CrossFit training method. Her 5-foot-4, 150-pound body -- adorned with colorful tattoos -- is sculpted with lean muscle. Speaking extensively about the legal fight for the first time, Jonsson added some details about her life while sitting in her attorney's office.
By Mark Emmons
[email protected]
POSTED: 03/14/2014 02:23:36 PM PDT0 COMMENTS| UPDATED: 3 DAYS AGO
Just like countless other exercise fanatics, Chloie Jonsson wanted to test herself in a CrossFit strength competition. The popular fitness events culminate each summer with men and women being crowned as "The Fittest on Earth."
But Jonsson is a transgender woman and was told she would have to register as a man.
And now the intensely private Los Gatos woman has taken on a very public fight by filing a discrimination suit against CrossFit Inc., focusing national attention on the redrawing of lines about what it means to be a man and a woman in athletic competitions.
"I don't want to be the face of anything, even though that's the way it seems right now for the transgender community," said Jonsson, 34, a personal trainer. "I just wanted to do my thing."
For Jonsson, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2006, the issue is clear-cut. She is a woman. But the fitness company contends she would have an unfair advantage against other women.
"Their position never changed: If you were born with a penis, you have to compete as a man," said WaukeenMcCoy, the San Francisco attorney who represents Jonsson. "Their policy is you have to register with the sex you are born with. But California law is very clear that you cannot discriminate on the basis of gender identity."
CrossFit did not return calls for comment.
Helen Carroll, the sports project director for the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights, said CrossFit's position is behind the times. Other organizations allow transgender athletes to compete after they meet specified guidelines -- including the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA.
"What CrossFit has done in this case is archaic," Carroll said. "It sounds like they didn't even bother to Google the issue. They're taking the approach that they just don't want to deal with it. But it's not going away. Everyone from professional sports to club teams are dealing with diversity issues and they're doing it well. It's really not that hard."
CrossFit is an intensive fitness regimen that, according to the company's website, has spawned a worldwide network of more than 5,500 affiliated gyms and 35,000 accredited trainers. A company marketing tool has been the months-long competitions that end with the televised Reebok CrossFit Games.
Jonsson is a believer in the CrossFit training method. Her 5-foot-4, 150-pound body -- adorned with colorful tattoos -- is sculpted with lean muscle. Speaking extensively about the legal fight for the first time, Jonsson added some details about her life while sitting in her attorney's office.
There are several issues here. One is woman-space. The idea that it's okay to have female spaces in society where men and men's stereotypical notions of womanhood are excluded. This has been horribly abused by women in their refusal to allow men the same privilege but the idea is a good one. Jonsson may be surgically female but that's not the same thing unless he was altered in toddlerhood.
Another problem is hormone abuse. Jonsson is simply not going to be subject to variations of normal female hormone picture which can change not only along a fertility cycle but in response to training, stress, and random factors. He is taking doses to mimic a normal hormone profile - a snapshot. This means he has the ability to customize his hormone levels in a way no woman can. He can also stop doing that, keep the gains, and pass a test. But legally, he probably wouldn't be tested for anything other than anabolic steroids and other performance drugs.
But there's more than hormones to being genetically male and to having passed through puberty and adolescence as a normal male. Bones are more robust, ligaments are tougher, the heart and lungs have more capacity, the diameter of blood vessels is larger, etc. Those effects don't suddenly drop down to average female levels just by altering hormone levels for a couple years. he can train harder than a genetic woman because he will have fewer injuries and no health consequences from low body fat.
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