Transgender athletes now allowed to compete in Olympics without surgery

The International Olympic Committee has revised rules surrounding qualifications for transgender athletes –including entirely scrapping gender reassignment surgery requirements.

The Guardian reported that “under previous IOC guidelines, approved in 2003,athletes who transitioned from male to female or vice versa were required to have reassignment surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible to compete.”

Today, however, surgery is no longer required at all. Though, the rules differ for trans men and trans women.

Outsports explained that trans men may participate in the games “without restriction” at all, but those who transition from male to female must meet certain criteria to compete.

One of those rulesincludes hormone therapy. Trans women mustmaintaina low enough testosterone for at least 12 months–or in certain cases even longer –in order to “minimize any advantage in women’s competition.”

Previously, the IOC required a two-year period of time for lower testosterone levels.

ThinkProgress added that the new guidelines should be in place before the summer games in Rio de Janeiro later this year.