Outcry Over Transgender CrossFit Games Exclusion

Transgender CrossFit enthusiasts are appalled by the organisation’s new CrossFit Games Gender Classification Policy, which they say discriminates against them and, in some cases, excludes them from participating altogether.

A Safe Space for LGBTQ+ Participants

When Brent Janse van Vuuren came out as a trans man, his Cape Town CrossFit box (an exclusive licensed CrossFit gym) became a vital social outlet for him—a space where he could express his physicality in a safe and welcoming community.

“It was an opportunity to connect with my body in a physical way,” he tells MambaOnline. “As trans people, we often find ourselves in conflict with our physicality. For me, CrossFit was a beautiful way to connect with myself. It really is a sport for everybody, no matter how good or fit you are.”

Founded in 2000, CrossFit is a fitness programme with more than 12,000 licensed gyms in more than 150 countries. It is both a way to get fit for the average person and a competitive sport. The annual CrossFit Games allow enthusiasts to compete at their local boxes through a series of workouts over several weeks. The Open section, with more than 343,528 participants in 2024, is aimed at social athletes, while a select few advance to the finals in the US to determine the “Fittest on Earth.”

“In the Open, it is mostly recreational. Ninety-nine percent of participants are social athletes,” says Janse van Vuuren. Since 2019, the CrossFit Games gender policy allowed transgender individuals to participate according to their gender identity.

This followed a $2.5 million discrimination lawsuit filed against the company in 2014 by California transgender CrossFit personal trainer Chloie Jonsson, after she was barred from competing in the women’s division of the CrossFit Games.

To compete in the men’s division Janse van Vuuren had to meet several criteria and do blood tests to ensure that his testosterone use did not violate the event’s doping rules.

“And I have to reiterate that I’m a social athlete, and I can barely do a pull-up,” he laughs, “I mean, I was ranked no 147,000! So that was a lot of jumping through hoops!”

New Policy Sparks Anger

Janse van Vuuren was excited to join the 2025 CrossFit Games Open, set to run from 27 February to 17 March. But the newly announced Gender Classification Policy has made that impossible.

According to the policy, “to maintain fairness and the integrity of the competition, athletes must compete in the division corresponding to their gender assigned at birth” — even in the Open division. The policy states this rule applies universally and that no exceptions will be granted, regardless of legal, medical, or personal documentation reflecting a different gender.

This means that trans women must now compete in the men’s division, while trans men are required to compete in the women’s division. Alarmingly, other participants are allowed to “confidentially challenge” a competitor’s gender identity, and CrossFit “reserves the right to request verification of an athlete’s gender assigned at birth.”

Impact on Transgender CrossFit Athletes

For Janse van Vuuren and especially other trans men like him, the new policy presents an impossible situation. He is effectively barred from competing in the women’s division, even if he was prepared to do so, because he is undergoing medically necessary testosterone treatment. Yet, the men’s division excludes him based on his assigned sex at birth.

“It’s a question of dignity in what is supposed to be an inclusive event,” says Janse van Vuuren. “For folks that have been transitioning for a long period – for five, ten, 15 years – and you’ve been presenting as a woman, or presenting as a man, this policy in essence is forcing you to out yourself.”

He also warns that the policy fosters a culture of “transvestigating”—a paranoid and transphobic practice of surveilling and reporting anyone suspected of being transgender.

“You could look around your box and report any woman who is too fast, too strong, or whose hair is too short, and she could be investigated. I don’t think people realise how toxic that is, even for cisgender people. If you don’t fit into the narrow gender norms there is a real chance that you can be reported.”

Petition for Change

Janse van Vuuren is among those supporting a petition urging CrossFit to reconsider its policy and allow transgender CrossFit athletes to compete according to their gender identity. The petition describes the policy as a “knee-jerk reaction to political pressures in the US” and calls for open dialogue with the transgender community to create policies “that reflect the values of inclusion, diversity, and fairness”.

Although the contentious policy only applies to the CrossFit Games and does not affect his daily training at his local box, Janse van Vuuren fears it will damage CrossFit’s reputation as an inclusive and welcoming community.

“CrossFit is something meaningful that I participate in, it’s probably my favourite part of the day,” he says. “And for me and a lot of people, CrossFit is a safe space. To have these ugly politics come into play, it could turn it into a hostile space.”

Janse van Vuuren, like the petition, believes that fairness in competition is essential—but not at the cost of exclusion. “We can have fairness without shutting people out,” he insists.

You can sign the petition here.