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The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii will represent an Oahu woman who may be denied an opportunity to paddle in a women's canoe race because she was once a man. ACLU backs
transsexual in
DNA caseStar-Bulletin staff
The ACLU is backing Tammy Wronski, 40, in challenging Hawaii Canoe Racing Association rules that say she must undergo DNA testing to compete in a Molokai-to-Oahu canoe race.
Born male, Wronski is undergoing sex reassignment surgery, says she's a woman and is now listed as female in her birth certificate. That was sufficient for her to compete as a member of the Manu O Ke Kai paddling club in earlier times. But new rules call for genetic testing if a participant's gender is questioned.
Wronski is battling the rule in a complaint before the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.
ACLU legal director Brent White says requiring Wronski to be tested to compete is humiliating. Also, it unjustly bars her from competition, he claimed.
"Genetic testing is simply an inappropriate way to determine gender for the purposes of sports competition," White said. "There are men with chromosomes like females and vice versa. If we used this test to determine if someone is female, women could be screened out and men could pass."
Genetic testing to determine gender in sports competition has been opposed by the American Medical Association, and the International Olympic Committee no longer requires it, an ACLU statement said. Hawaii law makes possible amendment of birth certificates to reflect sex change, the statement added.