Lia Thomas made a very good point about what makes a woman, whether you like it or not

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Asked by Chang whether the contested possibility that a testosterone-fueled puberty may leave “legacy effects” on a trans woman’s body after medical transition that should disqualify her from competing in elite sports, Lia answered, “I’m not a medical expert, but there is a lot of variation among cis female athletes. Initially told she had failed a routine doping test, Santhi learned several days later — via national news — that she had actually failed a “sex test.” Born with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, Santhi has XY chromosomes, female genitalia, and internal testes that produce testosterone, but her body lacks the androgen receptors that would allow it to use any of that hormone. IAAF doctors tested her testosterone levels and gave her an ultrasound, chromosome analysis, MRI, and physical examination that included “measuring and palpating the clitoris, vagina and labia, as well as evaluating breast size and pubic hair.” The IAAF officially replaced chromosome testing with testosterone testing in 2011 after another lesbian runner, Caster Semenya, was found to have naturally high levels, a move that would later inform the NCAA’s own policy on transgender athletes. While being transgender isn’t currently classified as a disorder of sexual development, many endocrinologists and biologists who work and research in the fields of sex, gender, and genetics believe that gender identity is at least partially — and possibly wholly — biological, and studies seem to show that trans women lag behind cis men in physical strength and body mass even before undertaking hormone therapy.