June 24, 2021
Olympics ready for trans athlete
Labour MP Louisa Wall says weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has every right to be at the Olympics and she hopes she does well for New Zealand.
43-year-old Hubbard will be the first transgender athlete to compete at games when she steps out in the women’s superheavyweight category next month.
Ms Wall says suggestions Hubbard transitioned to give her an advantage are wrong, and in fact, she gave up the sport for many years after she realised her identity did not match her biology.
She finally completed the transition eight years ago.
"Now my position is when you have gone through that process, and you become who you are so you may have had full gender reassignment surgery – as Laurel has done – as a woman you should be able to access everything society has to offer you, and sport and recreation is a public good that everyone has a right to participate in," Ms Wall says.
Hubbard had met the strict Olympic Committee criteria for trans athletes, which have been in its books since 2003.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand flag will be carried at the Olympic opening ceremony on July 23 jointly lead by Black Ferns women's sevens skipper Sarah Hirini and rower Hamish Bond.
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