Petition seeks to strip Caitlyn Jenner of Olympic medal

Caitlyn Jenner on the cover of Vanity Fair (Photographed by Annie Leibovitz)

Most petitions on Change.org, "the world's platform for change," are for progressive, do-gooder causes. But a recent petition out of Ft. Worth, Texas, asks the International Olympic Committee to revoke Caitlyn Jenner's gold medals, arguing that if she identified as a woman when she competed for the gold, she violated committee rules of women competing in men's sports and vice versa.

Concern-trolling on behalf of women, the petition writer claims that it's necessary to strip Jenner of her medals because she revealed that she has always identified as a woman, which means (according to the petitioner) she was a woman when she received the gold medal in the men's decathlon in 1976 at the Summer Olympics in Montreal.

"[I]t is with a heavy heart that we must ask whether or not it is proper that Ms. Jenner should retain her Olympic records in light of this, as we must now either claim that Bruce Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner are two entirely different people (which we know is not true), or that Bruce Jenner was, in fact, a woman participating in a men's event. It is only fair to all involved that women receive their credit as champions of the Decathalon and that the men racing Ms. Jenner are not expected to compete with a superior, streamlined being such as herself."

At issue are two competing definitions of "woman." For transgender women, the gender they identify with doesn't match the anatomy they were born with, or the birth certificate designation given to them by doctors. So the definition of "woman" in the petition ("Bruce Jenner was, in fact, a woman participating in a men's event") refers to the conventional, anatomical definition -- the one the Olympic Committee goes by, rather than the one transgender subjects refer to.

To fend off accusations of being transphobic, the petition writer tacks on a dissonant "[C]ongratulations to Ms. Jenner for her courage!" message at the end.

This petition is off-brand for Change.org, which usually hosts petitions for causes like the "Repeal the Seal" petition demanding that Kraft remove a misleading "health" label from their Kraft Singles packages, or petitions like the one created by the brother of a young Iranian woman to free her after she was jailed for watching volleyball.

At the time of writing, the "Revoke Caitlyn Jenner's Olympic Medals" petition needs 99 more supporters to reach 10,000.

Source: International Business Times