Alexia Cerenys tackles prejudice! A crucial forward move against transphobia.
«Alexia Cerenys, first transgender rugby player to enter the female elite team, struggled to accept her true identity for a long time. A dedicated member of the anti-discrimination committee in her federation, she’s a passionate advocate for inclusion in sports. From her beginnings in Stade Montois until her current Lons contract, Alexia Cerenys tells us about her extraordinary career.«
You’ve felt female since a very early age. However, you benched this feeling for many years. How did you experience this tough process and what role did rugby play in it?
The double game we experience as trans people is often misunderstood, and years can go by before even we can fully understand it ourselves. In my case, I took 25 years to discover my true self. Ever since my earliest recollections, when I was 6 or 7 years old, I remember questioning my gender identity —but I used to hide these feelings in order to adapt to social expectations, and sports were a way of channeling my emotions. I saw rugby as a manly sport, and getting a professional contract was a way of proving my masculinity. During rugby season, I pushed my femininity aside, but it resurfaced during the holidays, when I was alone. No one suspected my inner struggles, and it became exhausting at an emotional level. Injuries started piling up, until I suffered a severe injury to my left ankle, which meant a long recovery period. Later I received another injury in my left ankle ligament, which became a turning point for me —I started to realize my personality was split in two. When I came back home at night, I gave way to my emerging femininity, but during the day I had to play my masculine role. I was convinced my injuries and my gender dysphoria were closely related. So I started to accept my true identity as a trans woman.
In July 2020, World Rugby, the international governing body for rugby, proposed not accepting trangender people in high-performance female competitions —allegedly to ensure “safety” and “equity”— when you were already competing. Did you fear for your future in sports?
The decision World Rugby made was absolutely discriminatory and baseless! Up until now, no study has been able to show that transgender athletes have any kind of physical advantage, and this continues to be so to this day. So what was the true motive behind the decision made by the members of World Rugby’s medical commission? What scientific evidence did they base it on? I immediately contacted Bernard Laporte, who was the president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) back then and gave me his support right away and assured me I’d keep playing in the national league. He encouraged me to take my case to the International Olympic Committee and the European Court of Human Rights. After his reelection in 2021, Laporte formed the Anti-Discrimination and Equal Treatment Commission (CADET), which was made up of renowned experts in all kinds of discrimination issues. That pushed the Steering Committee at the FFR to commit to the inclusion of trans-identified, transexual and transgender people in rugby. I joined this committee as a vocal, and I did it especially in order to issue the first press release about this measure on the International Day Against LGTBphobia, on May 17th 2021. This decision opened up a new chapter in my career as an athlete.
“I used to hide my feelings in order to adapt to social expectations.”
However, although the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has officially committed to the inclusion of trans-identified people in rugby, this is subject to a number of conditions, notably that of having received hormone therapy for at least one year and not exceeding a certain level of testosterone. Do you believe these conditions to be necessary?
In 2021, the FFR included in its regulations that all trans men and women who have been physically reassigned and recognized in their current sex can participate in any official competition organized by the federation, in the category of their administrative sex —i.e. the one corresponding to their new name— without any precondition. Trans women who have not undergone surgery must certify that they have been given hormone therapy for at least 12 months and that their testosterone levels do not exceed the limit of 5 nanomoles per liter, according to the decision of the International Olympic Committee. But what should not be forgotten is the period of reathletization. Recovery from a sex reassignment operation —or from operations such as mastectomy for trans men— often takes a long time and can lead to a significant loss of muscle mass. And a year of hormone therapy is often considered sufficient to allow recovery under optimal conditions. This measure is also intended to ensure athletes’ safety when returning to sporting activity, so it seems fair to me.
What's really interesting is that you highlight an aspect that is often overlooked when it comes to transgender participation in sport: the fact that training is just as crucial as anatomical condition, if not more so.
As a trans person, I can assure you that training is essential if you want to achieve a good performance on the field. It’s a constant challenge. It’s physically demanding, and without training you can never reach the necessary level. When I started hormone therapy and joined the female team, I noticed a clear decline in my acceleration performance and my physical capabilities compared to what I’d experienced before. After a whole year, it was like diving into the unknown. I’d lost almost 15% of my initial capacity. So the impact of training shouldn’t be underestimated. I refuse point-blank to accept the claim that trans women are stronger than cisgender women. Our physical strength is the result of our bodies adapting to the hormones— period. I owe my rise to an elite women’s team to my hard work and unwavering commitment to my athletic training!
“I sometimes underestimate the actual impact my story has on other people.”
In an interview with French weekly news magazine L’Express, you claimed that “rugby is for everyone.” Has the diversity game already been won, or will future generations have to fight to gain new rights?
Rugby is one of the ten most dangerous and riskiest sports, and it’s closely linked to physical potency, speed and strength, all of which result in a wide variety of physiques playing out on the field. But in the world of sports, as in society in general, nothing can be taken for granted. Even the most significant advances can be questioned once again. The situation in Italy, where Giorgia Meloni’s government is working against LGBTQI+ rights, is a striking example. And even though the FFR has been ground-breaking in favoring inclusion of transgender people in sports, there’s still a long way to go in order to achieve true equality and inclusion. The International Olympic Committee has allowed transgender athletes to participate in international competitions since the Athens 2004 Olympics. However, I challenge you to name a single trans olympic champion.
What’s your next battle?
The next fight I’d like to join is that of mobilizing all French sports federations to make France a world-wide role model in inclusion in sports. I hope the commitment of the CADET will inspire other federations, and hopefully countries that remain doubtful will follow their lead as well. We’re a leading country in human rights, our advances are closely watched by the whole world, and it is essential that we never forget this is a responsibility for us.
In one word,
Pride: Free
Elite athlete: Dream
Athlete and Trans Woman: Unexpected
