When we talk about gay athletes we think of jocks that could easily blend in with mainstream athletics, and if it were not for their sexual orientation, they would be just like anyone else. But there is another group of the LGBT community that is often overlooked and quite often not even accepted with the community itself.

Transgender athletes are often viewed as the red headed stepchildren of the athletic realm, and are met with harsh scrutiny both from other athletes and gay people in general. Imagine winning a race that you have trained for your entire life and having to pull down your pants to prove that you were the right gender. As much as we want to think that we are excepting of wall walks of life, we can often turn a blind eye to those who are not like ourselves. My own ignorance and biases about transgender athletes have been changed since learning about the extra struggle that they have had to go through in order to simply do what the love to do; compete in sports.

These great men and women have been asserting their strength and their presence in athletics for generations. The story of gold medallist sprinter Stella Walsh is just one which has defied expectations and catapulted changes to the sporting world.

In the 1932 Olympics, Polish-American runner Stella Walsh sprinted her way to the gold in the 100-meter dash. Walsh was a dominant sprinter throughout the 1930s and 1940s, and the winner of 41 US Championships in various events. Born in Poland as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, Walsh immigrated to America and became a high school star in Cleveland and competed for Poland at the 1932 Games where she won her gold.

At the Berlin Olympics of 1936, she tried to retain her 100-meter title but lost to her bitter rival Helen Stephens. Ironically a controversy followed when Walsh's supporters hinted that Stephens was too fast a runner to actually be a woman. German doctors examined Stephens and announced she was in fact female, and she was awarded the win.

Walsh continued to compete as an amateur until 1954 and was inducted into the US Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975. Her contribution to the sport set a standard for all of those who followed her to look up to.

In 1980 Walsh was a bystander in an armed robbery in Cleveland, Ohio and was killed by a stray bullet at the age of 69. In her autopsy it was discovered that she actually possessed male genitalia. A detailed investigation followed which revealed that she had both male and female chromosomes, which is a condition known as mosaicism. Walsh had lived her entire life as a woman and many earlier documents, including her birth record, state that she was in fact a woman. Her successes both on the track and off were now unfortunately being questioned and put into controversy of whether her achievements and records should simply be erased.

After much debate, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IAAF both decided to overlook the controversy and simply go on with business as usual. Historically, the IOC has had a sex verification policy, which focused on preventing male competitors from participating in female events. As a reaction to this concern, sex verification tests for female athletes began in 1968. The tests were subsequently discontinued in 1999 as sports authorities struggled unsuccessfully to develop reasonable and medically sound tests that were fairly administered and interpreted in the face of mounting social, medical and legal objections to the tests.

The case of Stella Walsh is often regarded as one of the reasons why the IOC has gradually dropped the gender determination tests altogether. In the end, such a requirement was dropped prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics, as it was found that the genetic gender is not necessarily equal to social or biological gender.

The IOC, after long consideration of medical issues, ruled that as long as an athlete's gender is legally recognized and s/he has completed at least two years of post-op hormone therapy, s/he could legally compete in the games. The IOC standard subsequently has run down the chain to other sports governing bodies, but there is still a lot of discrimination and controversy surrounding transgender participation in sports.

At the recent Asian Games, Indian runner Shanti Soundarajan, had her silver medal stripped away after she reportedly failed a gender test. All though her case shows that there is still a question about how gender should be determined when it comes to athletics; it also proves that transgender individuals are a powerful mainstay in sports.

Stella Walsh may have never known what an impact she had for others like her. She lived her life as a woman and as an athlete who strove to be the best at what she did. Everyone faces different struggles in life, and it is important for the LGBT community to accept and fight for the rights of all of its members. There are many other athletes out there that all have triumphs and despair that can echo the story Stella Walsh's.

I have said before sport is the place where all prejudices and preconceived notions should be dropped so that everyone can complete for glory. That sentiment can and should include the transgender world that has fought along side every other minority in order to achieve acceptance.

Until next time!