| Federation of Gay Games Gender Policy
Statement of Purpose
This document outlines the policy framework in which the Gay Games principles of "inclusion, participation and personal best"™ will be upheld in relation to Gender. This Gender Policy provides guidelines to assist Gay Games host organizations in making gender accreditation decisions for participants whose passport or birth documents indicate a gender that is different from their self-identified gender.
Background
In accordance with the Gay Games principle of inclusion, the Gay Games welcome all people regardless of gender identity and seeks to provide a diverse and friendly environment free from all forms of harassment.
Gender identities include male, female, transgender, and intersex. A transgender person is someone who was born anatomically male or female, but has a strong and persistent bona fide identification with the gender role other than that assigned at birth. A transgender person may or may not have had medical treatment to transition to their chosen self-identified gender. Persons with intersex conditions have been born with reproductive organs and/or sex chromosomes that are not exclusively male or female. A person with an intersex condition may identify as male, female, both, or as intersex.
FGG Red Book Minimum Standards
The FGG Sports Committee will abide by the following guidelines when developing minimum standards for each Gay Games sport:
1. Sanctioning: The FGG Director Organization managing the sport decides whether that sport must be sanctioned and selects the appropriate sanctioning body. (e.g. Wrestlers Without Borders will decide which body will sanction the Gay Games event.) Where there is no FGG Director Organization for a particular sport, the FGG Sports Committee will work with appropriate representatives from the sport to make these decisions.
2. Gender Policy: The FGG Director Organization managing the sport decides what the gender identification guidelines will be for that sport. (e.g., Wrestlers Without Borders will decide what the gender identification guidelines will be for wrestling in the Gay Games.) Where there is no FGG director organization for a particular sport, the FGG Sports Committee will work with appropriate representatives from the sport to make this decision.
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The status of sanctioning and gender identification for each sport in the Gay Games, and in particular the references and procedures of the relevant sanctioning body, will be made public as soon as possible prior to each Games. The goal of the FGG Sports Committee, FGG Director Organizations and Host is to make this information available at least one year before the commencement of the Gay Games.
Accreditation Criteria
All participants registered for the Gay Games are provided an Accreditation Pass that is required for access to Gay Games events. Participants that are registered in sports that organized under male and female divisions will be asked to choose in which division they wish to participate. Participants are required to supply legal documentation such as passports, birth certificates, or other identification documents to verify identity at Accreditation. The person’s gender as recorded on these documents will generally determine how the person is accredited, unless certain conditions are met.
When a participant’s identity documents record their gender to be different from the one in which the person wishes to participate, and the sport they are registering for can accommodate them without creating an undue safety risk and without breaching any required sanctioning rules1, they will be accredited for participation under their chosen or self-identified gender if one of the following two conditions are met:
1. A letter from a medical practitioner is provided stating that the participant has been actively involved in hormone treatment for a minimum of two full years
2. Proof of the participant living as the self-identified gender for a minimum of two years.
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The definition of “actively involved” means uninterrupted treatment over the period up to and including the beginning of the Gay Games unless there is a medical reason that may have resulted in short breaks from that treatment. Any breaks in treatment should be outlined in the medical practitioner’s letter.
Proof may be provided by legal documents such as a driver’s license, evidence of employment as the chosen or self-identified gender, personal letters, testimonials or statutory declarations, bank accounts, leases, property titles, etc. Considering the challenges that may be involved in changing legal documents in some countries, the accreditation officials may exercise discretion when evaluating the adequacy of the type of documentation provided for proof an individual's gender. All documents must be provided in English or with certified translations.
Persons who satisfy these criteria will be accredited by the Gay Games host organization in accordance with their chosen or self-identified gender in their chosen events.
1 Due to the inherent nature of full contact combat sports, there is a significantly higher risk of injury in mismatched bouts. Of the official core and additional sports outlined in the FGG Red Book, only Wrestling and Judo are required by their respective sanctioning bodies to verify age, weight, and gender at pairing time. For these two sports, age and gender verification can only be satisfied by birth certificates, drivers’ licenses, passports, or some other qualifying government issued document. Compliance with sanctioning requirements for combat sports enables them to significantly increase safety by allowing them to obtain affordable liability insurance, medical coverage for participants, and the services of licensed officials who are not permitted to work for unsanctioned events.
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Performance Records, Sanctioning and Safety
In events where sanctioning allows participants to break records and where a transgender or intersex person with legal identity documents which differ from the accredited gender breaks a record in one of these events, the appropriate sporting body or association has the authority to determine how the performance is recorded.
All sports include rules that are intended to maximize fairness and minimize risk of injury. These rules tend to group persons with similar strength, experience and prowess together, in one on one or team events. In events that involve body contact, the technical officials implementing the rules of the event have discretion in determining circumstances, which place participants at risk of injury and to take reasonable action to avoid such injury. Where a technical official at the event level is of the opinion there may be a risk of injury, or where they consider one participant may have an unfair advantage over another participant, subject to the rules of the particular sport, they may rule that an individual may not participate in that event/class/division.
Host organizations should use their best efforts to encourage governing or sanctioning bodies and technical officials to recognize the participants according to their accredited gender.
Grievances and Appeals
An official host organization contact should be designated for handling all questions, grievances, and appeals related to the Gender Policy with contact information made readily available.
Participants who have a complaint about their treatment by Accreditation Officials or who wish to appeal a decision regarding the gender recorded for accreditation may seek to have their grievance or appeal heard by the official designated by the host organization.
A participant who has a complaint arising from an incident as part of a sports or cultural event or in relation to the rules of a specific sport or the behavior or decisions of a technical official should first seek to resolve the issue through the sports or cultural organization’s own grievance and appeals process. If there is no satisfactory resolution, the person could raise the issue with the official designated by the host organization.
Privacy and Confidentiality
The accreditation process will be conducted in a private environment. All information and documentation provided by participants will be treated as confidential.
Policy Approval and Revisions
The Sports Committee adopted version 1.0 of this policy on 9 March 2004 via an electronic vote.
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