Michelle Dumaresq is a transwoman from Canada who competes
in downhill cycling races. Because of the fact that she was born a male, she
has faced a great deal of strife and resistance from other competitors in the
cycling races, as well as from sport organizations themselves. Fellow
competitors were initially accepting of her, and even encouraged her to
compete, until she started beating them in the mountain bike races. At one
point in time, Dumaresq's racing license was suspended for awhile due to her
transsexual history, but eventually her license was reissued to her once it was
proven that her legal birth certificate recognized her as female.
Despite the negativity that Dumaresq was faced with, she has led a very successful competitive career as a downhill mountain bike cyclist.
The article that I found about her story was originally publishes in April of 2004, and in the interview Dumaresq stated that she had not really intended to be the poster child for transgender athletes and that she "didn't ask for all this attention" and that she "just wanted to race a bicycle." However, she also went on to state that she held the hope that "in ten years' time, no one will give a shit. Somebody had to come forward. It just happened to be me."
Despite the negativity that Dumaresq was faced with, she has led a very successful competitive career as a downhill mountain bike cyclist.
The article that I found about her story was originally publishes in April of 2004, and in the interview Dumaresq stated that she had not really intended to be the poster child for transgender athletes and that she "didn't ask for all this attention" and that she "just wanted to race a bicycle." However, she also went on to state that she held the hope that "in ten years' time, no one will give a shit. Somebody had to come forward. It just happened to be me."
I found Dumaresq's statement about hoping that attitudes
towards transgender athletes would be different in ten years to be significant
because of the fact that it is now ten years since the interview, and
unfortunately, attitudes about the inclusion of transgender athletes seem
relatively unchanged.
For more information about Michelle Dumaresq, check out the
following links:
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/mountain-biking/Michelle-Raises-Hell.html
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/mountain-biking/Michelle-Raises-Hell.html
Watch the documentary film about Dumaresq's life here:
--Melissa Condon
How was she born male, but her birth certificate says female?
ReplyDeleteI find it especially funny that her competitors would cheer her on so long as she wasn't beating them. I can imagine the emotional strain she must have went through, not only would she have got picked on for being a girl participating in a "guy" sport, but she would've got picked on for being a transwoman too.
I think that her opinion about hoping people would just stop giving shit really resonates with me. I really wish everybody would just chill out and stop being so prejudiced. It amazes me that even the most "educated" person can be so rascist/sexist/etc. You would think that, by now, people would believe that the most educated people are the ones that are wise about human relationships and being a pro of society.
-- Josephine Hicks
This is a confusing matter for me, because this concept for me to grasp as a woman athlete. I've grown up playing sports and if a transwoman was my opponent I would probably feel like they had an unfair advantage. This is definitely that I need to ponder further. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDelete-Bridget Thomas
I have to say that I can kind of see where the other female competitors are coming from. I don't think it is fair to tell Dumaresq that she can't compete because she doesn't fit within the gender binary of the sport, but at the same time, she could possibly have an unfair advantage. I think I would have to know more about her physical muscular capacity before I made the judgement between right and wrong. I can see both sides and I think this would be a good issue to look further into.
ReplyDelete~Sarah Jump