Ever since WTA announced the new Gene Testing policy, it has become a major talking point across the Tour. Several players, including Aryna Sabalenka, have backed the mandatory one-time testing procedure. Now, with the testing already underway, Jessica Pegula has offered an update on how players are reacting to the new policy.
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“I know some of the testing has started this week,” she told Front Office Sports. “And so far, I’ve heard it’s been very easy, it’s been very simple, no complaints. It definitely wasn’t something that was kind of brought all on us out of nowhere here in Cincinnati. I think it’s a hot topic right now, but I think the tour is doing a pretty good job, and players seem to be okay with everything.” In fact, standing in support of the new policy, Aryna Sabalenka believes that it is a step in the right direction, as it’s not fair that women have to compete against biological men.
“I think it’s really important to keep the fairness in our tour,” she said in a press conference before the National Bank Open. “It’s obviously, biologically, the men are way stronger than women, so I feel like it would be not really fair for the woman to compete against biological man.”
The World No. 1 further added, “I believe it took them a little while to make this decision and, yeah, I support it. But for me, I’m focusing on myself, on my goals, you know, whatever it takes. If they want to test us all, I’m happy to do that; it’s pretty fair, and let’s keep it that way.”
The initiative had been launched by the WTA on July 21. According to the policy, the players need to get tested for the SRY gene, a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development. This initiative has been taken to maintain the fairness of competition in women’s tennis.
A negative test result means that the player gets a clean chit forever. A positive result doesn’t automatically end a player’s eligibility, but it does render one ineligible to compete in tournaments reserved for women. That is, unless the player can demonstrate that she has Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome or another recognized Difference of Sexual Development.
The testing is not a recurrent procedure, and a player needs to do it only once in their respective careers. With no transgender players currently present on the Tour, it is unlikely that anyone would be affected by the testing.
But while Sabalenka is supporting the initiative and the players also seem to have no major complaints with the testing, there are others who don’t quite feel the same way. In fact, WTA has been heavily criticized over the last few weeks after it made testing mandatory for players. Some advocacy groups are even demanding that WTA drop the initiative altogether.
Advocacy groups want the WTA to stop the gene testing initiative for good
The Sports and Rights Alliance, a coalition of advocacy organizations, had described the initiative as discriminatory in a statement on Thursday. They also believe that the testing will cause harm to women, even though the WTA insists that it wouldn’t.
“The WTA can claim it does not intend to cause harm, but good intentions will never erase the stigmatization and trauma that women and girls will suffer due to sex testing,” said Andrea Florence, the executive director of the organization.
This isn’t all as Lily Dong Li Rosengard, advocacy senior specialist at ILGA World, an international organization that represents LGBTQ rights, feels that women shouldn’t be forced to prove their gender to compete on the international stage.
“The WTA has hurriedly cobbled together a policy that does not advance the rights of women and girls but instead undermines the safety and dignity of everyone on the tour,” she said in a statement. “Despite the fact that no out trans women are currently competing at the professional level, all women and girl tennis players will now have to ‘prove’ their gender just so the WTA can ensure they never play at all.”
Though the WTA has come under intense criticism, it is unlikely that it will scrap the gene testing initiative all of a sudden. With players willingly taking part, the testing process is expected to continue as planned.