One possible compromise on the transgender-sports issue is to have an “open” category, allowing trans-identifying athletes to compete in a way that acknowledges their identity status, without giving them an unfair sex-based advantage.

This is what the UCI, the international cycling federation, proposed as a compromise earlier this month — making the men’s category an “open” category. Now World Aquatics, the international governing body for swimming, is set to have a separate “open” category to accommodate trans-identifying males.

Of course, this olive branch won’t be enough to satisfy transgender activists, whose central demand is that men identifying as women be treated the same as actual women. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see whether this becomes the standard policy for international sports organizations.