>
A row has erupted between swimming great Ian Thorpe and high-profile critic of trans activism Katherine Deves over whether transgender women should be allowed to participate in swimming at an international level.
Ms Deves took aim at Thorpe for saying the international swimming organization FINA was ‘wrong’ in banning trans athletes and that it was a ‘complicated issue’.
Ms Deves tweeted directly to Thorpe on Thursday, writing that the issue was ‘not complicated’.
Former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves has held swimmer Ian Thorpe accountable for his criticism of the international competition ban on trans swimmers
Ms Deves said including trans athletes in women’s sports would always be unfair
“Women and girls have the right to female-only sports competition,” she wrote.
‘Only complicated if you think that the inclusion of men is a priority. CANNOT have both fair competition and inclusion, you must choose one.
“CAN’T have both fair competition and inclusion, you have to pick one.”
On Wednesday, Thorpe stated that he was against FINA’s position because he was ‘for fairness in sport, but I am also for equality in sport’. And in this case they are actually wrong.’
“So when you look at the numbers, it’s very unlikely that someone who went through the difficult process and was able to transition to the gender they choose will ever win an Olympic gold medal,” Thorpe said.
Thorpe, seen here winning one of five Olympic medals at the 2004 Athens Games, said trans swimmers were unlikely to beat biological women for top honours.
After the controversy over trans athlete Lia Thomas winning a major US college swimming title, FINA decided to ban transgender participants unless they transitioned before 12, the age of puberty when testosterone is released in males.
The decision was welcomed by current Australian swimmers and Olympic gold medalists Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm, who expressed concerns about the “fairness” of competing against swimmers with physiological masculine traits.
Ms. Deves argued that allowing trans athletes to compete past the age of male puberty, when testosterone is released, gave them a clear advantage equivalent to doping.
“If Ian Thorpe had to go up against a fellow doper, with an 8-10% performance advantage, he wouldn’t be an Olympian,” Ms Deves wrote.
“But women are expected to tolerate a man with a 10-12% performance advantage based on his gender?
“A man with suppressed testosterone is not a woman.”
The ban on transgender swimmers in international competitions followed the controversy over Lia Thomas (pictured) winning a major US swimming title at the college level
Thorpe, who came out as gay in a nationally broadcast interview in 2014 after retiring from competitive swimming in 2012, said the issue of trans athletes should be viewed from a broader and welfare-based approach.
“When it comes to the elite level, there needs to be a sensible conversation with endocrinologists, psychologists, physiologists, among others — anyone who actually has an opinion in this space,” he said.
Australia’s leading Olympic gold medalist, at five, also thought there was unwarranted panic about trans children competing as their chosen gender.
“If someone complains about someone being trans when they’re 10 years old, that’s bizarre. I can almost promise you that kid won’t compete as an adult,’ Thorpe said.
Ms Deves said biological sex can never be changed, regardless of what gender people identify with.
“No one can ‘determine’ their sex,” she wrote in response to the comment to Thorpe.
Olympic gold medalist Cate Campbell has said she is uncomfortable with the idea of competing against trans swimmers
‘Sex is immutable, objective and observable, it is determined at conception and observed in the womb or at birth, then recorded.
“And one man taking the place of a woman is one too many. This is common sense – the majority of Aussies would agree.’
In the last federal election, Ms. Deves stood as the Liberal challenger to Teal Zali Steggall for the Northern Beaches of Sydney, the seat of Warringah.
During the campaign, she made headlines for falsely claiming that gender reassignment surgery is available to adolescents, when in Australia it is only allowed for those over the age of 18.
She also controversially compared speaking out against trans activism to resistance to the Nazi holocaust during World War II.
Ms Deves, who is a lawyer, lost her match against Ms Steggall with the Liberals taking a six percent blow against them.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Thorpe for comment.