ABSTRACT Throughout 2019, retired athletes Martina Navratilova (tennis), Sharron Davies (swimming), Kelly Holmes (athletics) and Paula Radcliffe (marathon) all spoke publically about what they perceive to be the unfairness of trans women competing in women’s elite sport. These successful athletes, all with a history of growing and promoting women’s sport, were simultaneously celebrated for sharing their thoughts on a complex issue, and labelled transphobic for expressing anti-inclusive and transphobic views. Navratilova, particularly, despite her long history of fighting for inclusion and to end homophobia in sport, faced a severe backlash for expressing anti-trans rhetoric. This paper examines the concept of allyship in the context of inclusion and fairness in sport. Conceptual clarification of what allyship involves and requires precedes an examination of whether athletes should be obliged to promote inclusive sport. I argue that elite women athletes have an obligation to promote women’s sport, but not one that extends as far as a requirement to actively act as allies. To support this conclusion, I argue that: 1) past and present trans athlete eligibility rules endorsed by the IOC are problematic; 2) the typical arguments from unfairness and performance advantages fail to demonstrate why trans athletes should not be welcome to compete; but 3) a requirement of allyship requires more from women athletes than we can reasonably expect. Being mandated to act as an ally, without full commitment, does more harm than good. Athletes thus are entitled to express their views, but sports organizations should be responsible for providing education to all athletes on the science and ethics of trans athlete inclusion.

中文翻译：

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精英女子运动中的同盟

摘要在整个2019年，退休运动员Martina Navratilova（网球），Sharron Davies（游泳），Kelly Holmes（体育）和Paula Radcliffe（马拉松）都公开谈论了他们认为跨性别女性参与女子精英运动的不公平现象。这些成功的运动员都有发展和促进女子运动的历史，同时因分享他们在复杂问题上的想法而受到赞誉，并因表达反包容性和仇视性的观点而被标记为“仇视”。特别是纳芙拉蒂洛娃（Navratilova），尽管她为争取包容和结束体育运动中的同性恋恐惧症的悠久历史，但因表达反跨性别言论而遭到强烈反对。本文在体育的包容性和公平性背景下考察了联盟的概念。在确定是否涉及同盟关系之前，先对运动员是否有义务促进包容性运动进行概念上的澄清。我认为，精英女运动员有义务促进女子体育运动，但没有一项义务能够积极地发挥盟友的作用。为了支持这一结论，我认为：1）国际奥委会认可的过去和现在的跨运动员资格规则存在问题；2）来自不公平和表现优势的典型争论未能证明为什么不欢迎跨性别运动员参加比赛；但是3）结盟要求对女运动员的要求超出了我们的合理预期。在没有充分承诺的情况下被授权担任盟友，弊大于利。因此，运动员有权表达自己的观点，