(本文选自《经济学人》20201017期)
背景介绍：
今年10月9日，世界橄榄球联合会宣布，将禁止跨性别女性运动员参加国际橄榄球女子比赛，这一消息随后引发了人们的热议。目前，国际奥委会以睾酮激素水平为标准对跨性别女性运动员参加女子比赛项目加以限制，但这一做法也饱受争议。那么，跨性别女性运动员究竟该不该参加女子比赛呢？
Letting trans women play in women’s sports is often unfair
Other sports could learn from World Rugby’s approach
On october 9th World Rugby, the global governing body for rugby union, announced that it would bar transgender women—people born male, but who identify as women—from playing in the international women’s game. The decision drew
condemnation
from some quarters and praise from others; England’s rugby authorities have already said they will carry on allowing trans women to play at all other levels of the game within England.
10月9日，全球橄榄球联盟主管机构——世界橄榄球联合会宣布，将禁止跨性别女性（即出生时为男性，但后来变性为女性）参加国际橄榄球女子比赛。有人对这一决定表示谴责，但也有人表示支持；英格兰橄榄球协会已经表示，他们将继续允许跨性别女性参加英格兰境内的所有其他级别的橄榄球比赛。
It puts World Rugby at odds with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), whose rules allow trans women to compete in women’s Olympic events, and with several other sports that have followed the IOC’s guidance. Trans women competitors have enjoyed success in sports including weightlifting, cycling and athletics. Yet World Rugby’s decision to exclude them was the right one. Other sports should follow its lead.
这一决定将使世界橄榄球联合会与国际奥林匹克委员会的规则相悖，国际奥委会目前允许跨性别女性运动员参加奥运会的所有女子比赛项目。跨性别女性运动员如今在举重、自行车和田径等体育项目上都取得了优异的成绩。但世界橄榄球联合会将“她们”排除在外的决定是正确的，其他体育项目也应该这么做。
The first thing they should note is how the decision was made. The debate over transgender rights, especially online, can be extremely bad-tempered and poisonous. World Rugby brought scientists, ethicists, athletes and lawyers together in person, to present calmer arguments directly to the sport’s administrators. Those presentations were made public, in the interests of transparency. And the decision relied, as far as possible, on the evidence.
首先应该注意的是，这一决定是如何做出的。有关跨性别者权利的问题尤其在网上引发了激烈的讨论，人们甚至为此恶语相向。世界橄榄球联合会邀请科学家、伦理学家、运动员和律师一道前来，向这项运动的管理者提出了深思熟虑的建议。整个讨论过程都是公开透明的。而最终的决定也尽可能基于事实证据。
They should also note what that evidence shows. It came in two strands. One confirmed what everyday experience suggests. Most males are bigger, faster and stronger than most females; some males are bigger, faster or stronger than any female.
人们应该注意到这些证据所说明的问题，主要来自于两个方面。其一主要来自于日常经验的启示。男性大多比女性有着更大的体格、更快的速度和更强壮的肌肉；而有些男性的身体素质占据着绝对优势。
The second concerned the role of testosterone, the male sex hormone and anabolic steroid that is responsible for much of that sporting advantage. The IOC permits trans women to compete in women’s events only if they
suppress
the amount of testosterone circulating in their blood.
其二是关于睾酮的作用，这是一种男性性激素和合成代谢类胆固醇，它是男性具有运动优势的主要原因。国际奥委会虽然允许跨性别女性参加女子比赛项目，但前提是她们必须控制血液中的睾酮含量在一定范围内。
The evidence presented to World Rugby was not perfect, but it was enough to suggest strongly that this
compromise
does not work. Suppressing testosterone appears to have only a minor impact on strength—too small to undo the advantages bestowed by male
puberty
. And no amount of hormone therapy can shrink skeletons.
世界橄榄球联合会给出的证据并不充分，但足以证明国际奥委会的这种妥协是不合适的。抑制睾酮含量对于力量的影响微乎其微，并不足以抵消男性青春期所带来的体能优势。再大剂量的激素也无法使骨骼缩小。
That was enough for World Rugby to decide that the risk posed by trans women to other players in the women’s game would be too great. It has said it is ready to fund more research and will review its decision regularly. But in a risky sport already worried about the long-term impact of common injuries like
concussion
, its conclusion makes sense.
这足以促使世界橄榄球联合会认定，跨性别女性在女子比赛项目中对其他选手构成了太大的风险。世界橄榄球联合会已经表示，将为更多相关研究提供资金，并会定期对这项决议进行评估。但就橄榄球这样一项常见伤病（例如脑震荡）会给运动员带来长期影响的高风险运动而言，世界橄榄球联合会的决定是完全合理的。
That evidence matters for non-contact sports, too, for it also concerns fairness. Women’s sport exists precisely to exclude males. That is true at both the elite level, where rewards are greatest, and at the recreational one, where the vast majority of sport is actually played. Without it, half the population would be left struggling against an
insurmountable
advantage granted by mere biological chance to the other half.
这些证据对于非接触类运动也有着重要的意义，因为它还涉及到公平性问题。单独设置女子项目的目的正是为了将男性排除在外。无论是奖励丰厚的专业比赛还是大众参与的业余比赛，都是如此。如果不进行区分，那么有一半人将不得不与另一半具有绝对优势的人相竞争，而这种优势仅仅是由生物机会所赋予的。
If testosterone suppression cannot remove that advantage, then it is unjust for those who still possess it to compete against those who never did. (It is worth noting that this leaves room for trans men—those born female—to play in men’s sports if they wish, since they possess no biological advantage, and in contact sports are unlikely to pose a danger to their fellow competitors.)
如果抑制睾酮水平无法消除这种优势，那么让那些仍然拥有睾酮的人与那些不曾拥有睾酮的人相竞争是不公平的。（值得注意的是，跨性别男性——即出生时为女性，但后来变性为男性——如果愿意是可以参加男子比赛项目的，这是因为他们不具有生理优势，并且在接触类运动中也不会对其他竞争对手构成威胁。）
Advocates for trans women often argue that inclusion should trump such worries. But sport is a zero-sum game, which means inclusion cuts both ways. If trans women possess a biological advantage, then allowing them to compete risks depriving others of victories they might otherwise have won, or a place in a team they might otherwise have earned.
跨性别女性的支持者们常说，人们应该更多去包容，而不该过度担忧。但体育本身是一场零和游戏，这意味着包容对双方都不公平。如果跨性别女性确实具有生理上的优势，那么允许她们参加比赛就有可能剥夺他人原本可以取得的胜利，或是抢占了团队中原本属于他人的位置。
Most sports acknowledge that
trade-off
, at least in principle. The IOC itself notes that “the overriding sporting objective is and remains the guarantee of fair competition.” It is, in the end, simply a question of fact whether testosterone suppression can guarantee that fair competition in practice. And the evidence so far suggests it cannot.
大多数体育运动至少在原则上承认这种取舍。国际奥委会也指出，“一直以来，体育运动最重要的目标是保证公平竞争。”但从目前来看，这一目标并未实现。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
近年来，随着越来越多跨性别运动员的出现（尤其是在其中许多运动员取得优异成绩的情况下），有关跨性别女性运动员参加女子比赛项目的问题引发了人们的激烈讨论。有人认为，允许她们参加女子比赛将有失体育比赛的公平性，但也有人认为应该给予她们更多包容。在你看来，究竟该不该允许跨性别女性运动员参加女子比赛项目呢？
重难点词汇：
condemnation
