“ As if society wasn’t already hard enough on us “. In an interview given to franceinfo Wednesday 20 September, the French sprinter Halba Diouf denounced the exclusion of transgender athletes from major national or international sports competitions.
On March 23, the president of the International Athletics Federation, Sebastiano Coe, announced that athletes assigned male at birth would not be able to participate. In his opinion, ” THE the evidence that trans women do not maintain an advantage over biological women is insufficient ” he said.
Read also: Inclusion of trans people in sport: why FINA’s new policy is far from good news
Halba Diouf: “I feel trapped, closed in a box”
A decision that Halba Diouf does not understand, having to settle for departmental competitions, and seeing her dream of participating in the next Olympics vanish: ” It is an injustice towards transgender people who they are already excluded, discriminated against, violated “, before continuing:
“There are no words harsh enough to express how we feel right now. I wonder if the decision makers are aware of what they are doing: excluding those who are already excluded. I feel trapped, closed in a box. »
Halba Diouf
Because the 21-year-old sprinter, who changed marital status in September 2021, is just two cents away from the minimum required to qualify for the 200 meters: “ I really experienced it as a betrayal (…) Sport and competition are sometimes the only escape routes we find to forget oppression and aggression. “.
Despite everything, he still hopes to be able to participate in this competition. She has hired a lawyer to contest this exclusion: “ We will fight all the way to the arbitration court in Switzerland. We will dismantle this ban “, he assures.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
