Caster Semenya

• Birth date: 1991
  

“That identity doesn’t fit me; it doesn’t fit my soul.”

The cisgender South African Olympic gold medal-winning runner has been battling World Athletics’ discriminatory rules for years.

The ban takes effect on March 31, the date of the International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Barbra Banda is a cisgender woman who is being told her body disqualifies her from playing women’s soccer.

World Athletics justified their ban of women with higher testosterone levels by citing a scientific study. Now the authors say it was only “exploratory.”

The white male athlete said that the African woman is faster than he was at her age, so she must be a man.

There is historic representation at the Olympics, but some of the best LGBTQ athletes didn’t make the trip – and the ones that did have been misgendered, publicly maligned, and even outed while in Japan.

Francine Niyonsaba was first banned from her regular competition by the same rule affecting Caster Semenya and others. She made it to the Olympics anyway – just to get disqualified on another technicality.

Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi are the latest accomplished athletes to be excluded under the rule that devastated Caster Semenya’s career.

From the Super Bowl to the NCAA to various television networks, LGBTQ people were major influences in sports throughout the entire year. Here are the top twelve highlights of that.