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The Olympics Are About to Get a Lot More Inclusive

Great news for the transgender community!

The Olympics just made a major push for inclusivity as it was just announced that, beginning with the Summer Olympic Games this August, transgender athletes will no longer be required to have sex reassignment surgery in order to participate.

According to The New York Post, the Olympics is taking a page out of the NCAA's book, which puts no restrictions on women transitioning to men, but restrict men transitioning to women.

The new rules state that for men transitioning to women, the athlete in question must first declare her gender identity as female, and this declaration must remain as such for a minimum of four years. In addition to this, she must clearly show her testosterone level has been below the determined limit (10nmol/L) for one year before competing, and must stay below that level throughout the duration of the Games.

These new rules have not yet been formally announced by the Olympics, but have been posted to the organization's official website.

This update comes just after the International Olympic Committee's "Concensus Meeting on Sex Reassignment and Hyperandrogenism," which took place back in November, 2015. Prior to this, transgender athletes were first allowed to compete in the 2004 Olympics, but were required to change their sex both legally and anatomically to be cleared to complete.

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(Photo: Harry How / Getty Images)

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