Dispatches from Deutschland: Playing Along with Politics (and Bad Medicine)
Lisa Müller on the bitter ironies of Self ID and Sports in Germany.
On April 12, 2024, the German parliament passed the controversial Self-Determination (Self-ID) Act. Anyone can now change their gender marker once a year without having to provide a psychiatric report. Parents decide for children up to the age of 13. Young people from age 14, can involve the family court if their parents do not give their consent.
The resulting need to define and implement their own legally compliant regulations, is a major challenge for sports associations and clubs.
Clubs are supposed to solve what the legislator has left open. In fact, this is an unreasonable demand. But what has already been done in recent years on the subject of trans identities in sports? To what extent have statutes and regulations already been changed? Is sex still defined as binary? Let's start finding out by looking at a decision by the German Football Association regarding an allegedly discriminatory poster display.
German Football Association: The Banner “There’s Only Two Sexes” Costs 18,000 Euros in Fines
In November 2023, Bundesliga soccer clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Werder Bremen faced each other. The Leverkusen supporters held up a banner stating that there are only two sexes. The trigger was a rather harmless quarrel between rival fans. The sports court of the German Football Association (DFB) subsequently fined the club 18,000 euros. The rationale given was “discriminatory and unsportsmanlike behaviour by the fans”, and the banner also “violated the DFB's inherent values.”1
DFB 2022/23: New Optional Match Regulations
The DFB's affirmative attitude towards the concept of gender identity is not surprising. The DFB, the largest national sports association in the world with 7.7 million members, had commissioned Julia Monro, a MtF member of the German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality (dgti) as an advisor, for quite some time.2 The DFB, for example, rushed ahead as early as 2022 and now stipulates in its regulations that transgender people can decide for themselves whether they want to play for a women's or men's team. This rule also includes persons whose civil registry is neither male nor female (“other” or “not specified”). Individuals in a “transition phase” can receive “permission to play for the team of the sex they are seeking to align with” for the matches of the national and regional associations upon application.
What are we to think of the fact that trans-identified men (simply by virtue of the Self-Determination Act coming into force) can now play in women’s teams at any time? Inclusion was put before fairness and health, and that is wrong. We surely can't have a fair competition if we let men compete against women. Their physical advantages, whether they lower their testosterone levels or not, are proven. And of course, their participation poses a risk to the physical integrity of women. I wonder if women were consulted beforehand? It's quite convenient that the vast majority of DFB officials and members are men.
But what about trans-identified women who take testosterone during their “transition phase” (the duration of which they can decide for themselves, according to the DFB's rules of play)? Why is this not a matter of anti-doping policies?3
DFB Contradicting Its Own Anti-doping Guidelines
The preamble of the DFB's regulations regarding the rules of the game states:
“The DFB is committed to the ban on doping in order to protect players’ health and to maintain fairness in competitions.”
Anabolic-androgenic steroids are top of the list of substances that are banned at all times (i.e. even outside of competition periods), as prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The DFB tries to circumvent this dilemma in the DFB's match regulations under point 7.2.:
“Individuals in transition do not violate anti-doping rules when competing in the leagues organized by the state and regional associations, provided that taking the medication (insofar as it contains substances prohibited on the current list of the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) is necessary for the transition phase and is carried out under medical supervision and on condition that a trusted third party is informed. The medications taken are to be recorded by the trusted third party.”4
It is as simple as that. Just ditch your own rules. But where does fairness come in when women who take testosterone compete against women who do not? Why the absurd distinction between amateur and professional sports? Fairness in sports is obviously no longer being pursued in the amateur leagues. The fact that taking testosterone no longer falls under this exception when the transsexual woman declares her “transition phase” to be over and, according to DFB regulations, must henceforth play with men, is no less absurd.
But of course, fairness is only the second reason given by the DFB for banning doping. Health risks are mentioned first. With the new rule in the playing regulations, the DFB officials are obviously turning a blind eye and accept the health risks to trans-identified individuals. No one involved in sports in Germany can seriously claim to be unaware of the terrible effects that anabolic-androgenic steroids can have on the human body.
They weren't vitamins …
Athletes in formerly Communist East Germany were doped with, among other things, Oral-Turinabol, a testosterone derivative. Many athletes, both male and female, knew nothing about it; they thought they were taking vitamin pills. Due to the sometimes supernatural performances at international competitions, doping was assumed in the West. Although the IOC had banned anabolic steroids as early as 1974 – the consequences for the health of athletes were already known – young men, young women, adolescents and even children in East Germany were doped with these substances more and more recklessly until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After German reunification, the details of this practice became known and the issue was hesitantly addressed. The public was particularly outraged by the lack of information provided to the affected athletes, the manipulation of their parents and the severe medical side effects. It was not until 1997 that criminal and civil proceedings were initiated, and eventually three high-ranking officials and a team doctor were sentenced to suspended prison terms for “aiding and abetting bodily harm”.
The list of side effects is long: damage to various organ systems, increased incidence of tumours, permanent damage to hormonal control circuits, menstrual disorders, increased risk of miscarriage, infertility, diseases of the cardiovascular system.5 Liver damage, including liver cancer, skin changes with cracks, acne and scarring and other serious symptoms, damage to the digestive tract including stomach, intestines, liver, pancreas, sometimes with serious permanent functional and digestive disorders, excessive growth of the clitoris and liver damage.6
A study conducted in cooperation with the Doping Victims' Help Association (DOSH) on a group of 113 former athletes yielded the following frequency estimates: 25% heart disease, 27% tumors or cancer, 27% gynecological damage, and 68% psychological damage.7
A high number of premature and stillbirths among doped East German female athletes were described by the historian Giselher Spitzer as being more frequent than could be expected. The children who survived suffered from allergies, skin and lung diseases. One in ten had deformities, and the same number suffered from metabolic diseases. Six percent of them were mentally disabled. One in seven children had psychiatric disorders.8
Estimates assume that at least 12,000 athletes in East Germany were systematically doped according to a state plan. Only 1,600 former athletes have so far received a one-time compensation payment of €10,500 through the Doping Victims Assistance Act.9
Incidentally, a claim by doping victims to be recognized as victims of arbitrary treatment by the state failed in March 2024.10
Nothing Learned
The side effects for athletes were therefore significant and medical research has obviously failed to take a closer look at these cases over the last 30 years. The results of the damage caused by testosterone to the male and female body could have been of significant help to doping victims in terms of recognition as victims, but would also have been useful for their medical aftercare.
At that time, the aim was to avoid attracting attention to the virilization of female athletes, and the dosages were based on this. In trans medicine (ftm), the explicit aim is visual masculinization. This suggests that the effect of testosterone administered today – which, incidentally, is off-label for use in girls and women – is stronger, including the associated side effects.
Ultimately, experts will have to assess the extent to which the active ingredients, dosages, route and duration of administration of the drugs used at the time are comparable to those of today's drugs
Chart references 11: Jutta Braun und René Wiese: Sportgeschichte vor Gericht Ein Gutachten zu Dopingpraxis und SED-Unrecht im DDR-Sport, S.123
12: Ärzteblatt Meyer u.a. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2020; 117: 725-32; DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2020.0725 https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/216299/Geschlechtsangleichende-Hormontherapie-bei-Geschlechtsinkongruenz
The pharmaceutical company Bayer in Leverkusen, whose former company sports club “Bayer Leverkusen” accepted the DFB's punishment for the “Only 2 Sexes” poster without objection, sold off its testosterone product “Nebido” to the company Grünenthal in 2022 for 495 million euros. Grünenthal is the pharmaceutical company that became infamous for the thalidomide scandal.11
There is More to Sports than Football
Other sports associations have also adapted their regulations regarding the inclusion of trans people. For example, the German Hockey Federation and the German Handball Federation. However, many sports associations are either more reluctant to deal with “trans” in sports, or their outdated rules do not mention this topic at all. They often date from times when changes to the gender marker were such a rare exception that people simply hoped the issue would pass by them. Since the so-called traffic light coalition government has been in office and the introduction of Self-ID was debated, many associations and clubs have instinctively shied away from adapting the regulations, as the topic would have had to be discussed openly and a rejection would have had to be accepted. Incidentally, this reflects the suppression of the debate by politics vis-à-vis society. If asked for their opinion, the population would most likely never have agreed to this, especially not if an honest public debate had been conducted in the media. Now that Self-ID is enshrined in law, it is likely that adjustments to the sports regulations in 2025 will be put to the vote in numerous sports associations. It is rather unlikely that these adjustments will do justice to the rights, needs and health of children, girls and women. It I will probably also depend on what happens in other European countries and in the USA in the coming months.
While the rules of many associations have not yet been extensively changed, gender-inclusive language could slowly find its way into the individual associations and clubs from the umbrella organizations through recommendations and training.
But the federal states, which are responsible for the distribution of funds in Germany's federal system, have also influenced the language used in clubs and associations, demonstrating clear political will.
It is important to know that clubs and associations, especially those involved in competitive sports, are dependent on funding from the federal states and umbrella organizations. Therefore, they are willing to jump through any hoop to receive it. One can't blame the mostly volunteer leaders of clubs and associations when they linguistically adapt protection concepts, guidelines and general communication; for them, it's just a few words on a piece of paper that serves a good cause.
Child Protection in Sports: Turning a Blind Eye?
Most officials in sports clubs and associations are men. Also, most management positions are occupied by men. If you follow the superficial discussions on the topic of “biological men in women's sports” in the associations, this gives the impression that no one is actually willing to consider any massive negative aspects. They also turn a blind eye on to the endangerment of child protection that the Self-Determination Act brings with it. And this is not only about changing rooms, but also about recruiting coaches and support staff for teams. When it comes to girls' teams, many clubs and associations have long since introduced more than just the four-eyes principle when traveling to tournaments. At least one female chaperone must travel with them. It remains to be seen how things will pan out if a trans or non-binary man applies for the job.
Top sports associations and youth organizations of state sports associations are obliged to appoint contact persons for protection against psychological, physical and sexual violence. The DOSB's newly planned “Safe Sport” program is to be introduced in every club through the associations over the next few years.
In the DFB brochure “Child protection in clubs”, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues, calls for attention to sexual violence even beyond the boundaries of clubs and associations:
“At the same time, clubs should also be aware of the many children and young people who experience sexual violence outside of the club, especially in families and increasingly through digital media. For many children, the sports club is a place where they know people to whom they might confide if necessary. It is therefore important that clubs support their paid and volunteer staff with appropriate means to help. Coaches or supervisors should be sensitized to the topic, receptive to hidden indications from children and adolescents, believe them and know how to help them.”12
When children and young people reject their own bodies to such an extent that they want to permanently change them medically, it is a cry for help that the DFB and most other associations obviously do not want to hear so far. One can only advise the officials to go into retreat again when it comes to the protection of children and young people and to take a close look at the Cass Report.
“After four years of work, the independent medical doctor explains in her report in such detail that children and adolescents who consider themselves transsexual often disproportionately show massive psychological problems. The clinical pictures range are ranging from suppressed homosexuality to difficult family life situations, depression... and even domestic abuse. Due to a lack of research and the disproportionate use of puberty blockers in the past, children and adolescents have been “abandoned.”13
Sport Should be Good for Your Health
The German Olympic Sports Confederation has over 28 million members, which, at over a third of the population, makes it the largest citizens' movement in Germany. It would have had a lot of influence if it had voiced criticism of the Self-Determination Act. Instead, responsibility was passed on to the individual sports associations, which were told to decide for themselves and, if necessary, exercise their domiciliary rights. It is already clear that this will not be easy to enforce. Lawsuits would then have to be endured and financed by the state associations and clubs, i.e. people who mostly work in an voluntary capacity.
Sport should serve health, as stated in most of the statutes of sports clubs. We still play sports with our bodies, not with our identities. Regulations for the protection of children, youth and women must be designed differently than in the association of string instruments.
In Germany, there are many sports clubs offering a wide range of sports activities. Everyone can find the right one for themselves. When girls play soccer and men like to dance, it is quite common in the world of sports, and it also has an impact on social acceptance. We could and should encourage each other to be comfortable in our own bodies and to do our favorite sport. According to the good old motto: a healthy mind in a healthy body.
Instead, where it should be about maintaining health, the way is paved for a (medical) transition by reducing statutes and regulations to absurdity.
Does this Make Sport Complicit in Transmedicine?
Unlike in East Germany, the sports associations are not drivers of this disastrous medicine, and officials are not responsible for patients not being fully informed about the harmful side effects of testosterone. One may classify the role of sports officials as passive, but based on the knowledge that is out there, one can probably claim that officials are actively looking the other way.
After all, the doctors in this current experiment with the administration of off-label hormones and cruel operations are not association doctors. In January 2000, Lothar Kipke, the then association doctor of the East German swimming association, had to listen to the following words from the victims' lawyer Michael Lehner in the trial against him:
“Dr. Kipke … you are the perversion of the art of curing people. How could you harm these young women and know the consequences of these drugs? ...You are a nondoctor, and you have perverted the ethics of your profession; how is it, that a doctor was given charge of young girls and offered them up as guinea-pigs?”14
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Gut besuchter DFB-Workshop zum TIN*Spielrecht, 12.08.2024
Regulations regarding the rules of the game, and the Rules of the Game
Studie der Universität Rostock “Gesundheitliche Langzeitschäden von SED-Unrecht” Bernhard Strauß, Jörg Frommer, Georg Schomerus & Carsten Spitzer, Psychosozialverlag, 2024
**Freyberger und Buhrmann (2017, S.34 + 36)
*** Freyberger et al., 2018
Aufarbeitung der Sportgeschichte: Die verlorenen Kinder der DDR-Dopingopfer, Tagesspiegel, 22.11.2017
NDR DDR-Sportgeschädigte kämpfen um dauerhafte Unterstützung, 12.03.2024
Deutschlandfunk: “Doping-Opfer-Hilfeverein kritisiert BVG-Urteil”, 05.05.2024
“Faust’s Gold: Inside the East German Doping Machine”, Steven Ungerleider, PH.D., 2013
This is an excellent article and is certainly eye-opening. When on social media, I've pointed out the health risks of cross-sex hormones and used the East German doping scandal and the consequences for the athletes' health as an example. It's interesting how people who agree with the gender woo either say I'm lying or they find the awful outcomes funny. I really can't understand how people are so overtaken by gender ID that they can't / won't see the consequences. Dreadful.