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Column: FINA ban casts storm clouds on transgender athletes

Anna Elendt of Germany and Benedetta Pilato of Italy, right, compete in the Women 100m Breaststroke final at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, June 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) Noe Ponti of Switzerland competes in his Men 200m Butterfly semifinal at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, June 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) FILE - University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas prepares for the 500 meter freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. World swimming’s governing body has adopted new rules for transgender athletes, only permitting swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new “gender inclusion policy” at the organization’s extraordinary general congress on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Thomas made history in the United States as the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) FILE - Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas swims in the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay at the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at Harvard, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File) FILE - Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas waits for a preliminary heat in the Women's NCAA 500-yard freestyle swimming championship, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) FILE - Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas speaks to her coach after winning the 500 meter freestyle during a meet with Harvard on Jan. 22, 2022, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. In an interview that aired Tuesday, May 31, 2022, on ABC's “Good Morning America,” Thomas disputed those who say she has an unfair biological edge that ruins the integrity of female athletics. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
Column: FINA ban casts storm clouds on transgender athletes