Veronica Ivy (born 1982), formerly Rachel McKinnon, is a Canadian competitive
cyclist and
transgender rights activist.
In 2018, she became the first transgender world track cycling champion by placing first at the
UCI Women’s Masters Track World Championship for the women's 35–44 age bracket.
Early life and education
Ivy is from
Victoria, British Columbia. She earned a bachelors of arts degree in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
from the
University of Victoria (2005). She completed her PhD from
University of Waterloo in Philosophy in 2012,
[Rachel McKinnon]
, ''The Conversation''. with a thesis entitled "Reasonable Assertions: On Norms of Assertion and Why You Don't Need to Know What You're Talking About".
Ivy has said she first began thinking she might be transgender when she was thirteen, but took sixteen more years to "come to terms with it". She started
transitioning near the time she was finishing her doctorate, and
came out "two days after I defended my
dissertation."
[Fred Dreier,]
Q&A: Dr. Rachel McKinnon, masters track champion and transgender athlete
, ''VeloNews'' (15 October 2018). She wrote to her students to tell them that she was transgender on 2 May 2012.
Ivy was an associate professor of philosophy at the
College of Charleston in
South Carolina.
She earned tenure in March 2019, and became an associate professor in August the same year.
Ivy's primary research focus is the philosophy of language. The majority of her published work is about the norms of the
speech act
In the philosophy of language and linguistics, speech act is something expressed by an individual that not only presents information but performs an action as well. For example, the phrase "I would like the kimchi; could you please pass it to me?" ...
of assertion,
pre-eminently her 2015 monograph ''The Norms of Assertion: Truth, Lies, and Warrant'' (Palgrave Macmillan, ). Another focus of her work is
feminism and
feminist philosophy, particularly issues relating to gender and
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
identities.
Media career
Ivy has written articles on transgender and
intersex issues for outlets including ''
NBC News'',
''
Vice'',
and ''
Newsweek''.
Athletic career
Prior to moving to the College of Charleston, Ivy played
badminton. Lacking a strong badminton scene at Charleston, Ivy developed an interest in
sport cycling.
On 12 October 2018, she won the world 200-meter sprint record for women in the 35–39 age range, and the next day won the
UCI Masters World Track Cycling Championship in the Women's Sprint 35–44 age bracket, becoming the first transgender world champion in track cycling.
Some in the sports world expressed their
belief that her birth sex gave her an unfair advantage. American cyclist Jennifer Wagner, who finished third (bronze), said Ivy’s birth sex gave her
physiological
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
advantages. The second-place (silver-medal) winner, Dutch athlete Caroline van Herrikhuyzen, supported Ivy. Ivy argued that there was no evidence that being born male gave an advantage in the race and that she had lost to Wagner in the past. British columnist
Katie Hopkins wrote that the decision to allow Ivy to compete was evidence that "the world is gripped by a febrile madness". Tennis player
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...
said that allowing people born male to compete in women's sports was "insane" and "cheating". Ivy criticized Navrátilová's comments as "
transphobic."
Ivy cited one of the fundamental rules of the
International Olympic Committee that the practice of sport is a human right.
Her participation in the competition was consistent with rules in force since 2003.
Some commentators felt that Ivy had an advantage because of her size and muscle mass. Ivy objected to this criticism: she must keep her
testosterone level low as a prerequisite for her participation in sports competitions.
2019 cycling time trial
In an October 2019 time trial, Ivy broke the record for the 200-meter sprint for females aged 34–39.
In response, she received a number of death threats, and was targeted on Twitter by
Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977) is an American political activist, businessman, author, and former television presenter. He is the eldest child of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and his firs ...
In December 2019, she wrote an op-ed in ''
The New York Times'' about this experience.
Ivy changed her name from Rachel McKinnon with an announcement on Twitter on December 4, 2019
Controversy
In August 2019, in relation to the death of American billionaire
David Koch, Ivy tweeted that "it’s okay to be happy, even celebrate, when bad people die".
A respondent, believing Ivy to be alluding to the terminal illness of
Magdalen Berns
Magdalen Berns (6 May 1983 – 13 September 2019) was a British YouTuber, boxer, and software developer. Berns, a lesbian radical feminist, produced a series of YouTube vlogs in the late 2010s focusing on topics such as women's rights and gende ...
, asked if Ivy "thought it was OK to celebrate the death of a young person suffering from an incurable brain tumor" (quoting the account of the Charleston ''
The Post and Courier''). Ivy replied: "if they’re a trash human actively trying to harm marginalized people because of who they are? I think it’s justified". The exchange provoked a petition by over 500 signatories seeking Ivy's public apology.
[Colleen Flaherty,]
College Supports Trans Scholar Under Fire
, ''Inside Higher Ed'' (3 September 2019).
References
External links
Academia.edu page*McKinnon, Rachel
Reasonable Assertions: On Norms of Assertion and Why You Don't Need to Know What You're Talking About'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivy, Veronica
Living people
Transgender women
Canadian women philosophers
Transgender sportspeople
LGBT rights activists from Canada
Transgender rights activists
LGBT sportspeople from Canada
Transgender writers
College of Charleston faculty
LGBT cyclists
Canadian expatriates in the United States
1982 births
Transgender academics
LGBT philosophers
Canadian cyclists
Canadian female YouTubers
Canadian YouTubers
LGBT YouTubers