This is a hot topic in current politics, and as a person in the trans community I wanted to help shed some light on this. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of people who support me and consider themselves an ally, to disagree on this subject. When a trans man plays elite level sports, most people don’t care because of the stereotype that “a woman could never be as good as a man”. But all of a sudden when a trans woman competes and wins, the whole world suddenly has an opinion. I wanted to break some of these stereotypes down and answer some of the most common questions I hear when discussing trans women playing sports.
MYTH #1: Trans women are dominating sports!
First, we need to look at the numbers. When people bring this argument up most often, they are referencing Lia Thomas, a swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania who was the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA championship. This occurred in 2022. The fact that it took until the year 2022 for a single transgender athlete to win says one thing. It is also important to note that the 500-meter freestyle race which she won did not break any meet or NCAA records. In fact, during that same competition 27 records were broken, 18 of them by the same person, however Lia did not break a single one. Her winning time of 4:33.24 would not have beat the second-place woman if she had raced her best time. It also would not have won that race the past 6 out of 9 years.
Outside of Lia Thomas, most people can’t even name another trans woman who is competing. I would be impressed if you could name two or even three trans women athletes. The fact is, people don’t care about trans women until they start having success. In 2022, there were over 480,000 students who participated in collegiate athletics, and only 32 of them were transgender. But on average, approximately 2% of the world population is transgender. Statistically, that means that approximately 9,600 of all collegiate athletes should be transgender, not a measly 32. At the Olympic level, trans women have been allowed to compete for the past 20 years. During this time, there was only 1 single trans woman who competed, and she didn’t even medal. So no, trans women are not dominating women’s sports.
MYTH #2: If we allow trans women to compete, men are going to sign up for the women’s category in order to win.
Again, let’s look at the language. First of all, let’s clarify that trans women are not men. Trans women are women. Second, trans women do not simply get to waltz into practice one day and declare they are going to compete for the other team. There is a rigorous process they need to go through in order to be eligible to compete for the women’s team. According to NCAA rules, a trans woman is not allowed to compete on the women’s team until they have had testosterone suppression down to a certain threshold for at least 1 year. Nobody is simply walking onto the women’s team. Studies show that after lowering testosterone levels in trans women, muscle mass and oxygen-carrying capacity are lowered to the average of cisgender women, while a trans man taking testosterone has an increase in muscle mass and oxygenation similar to that of cisgender men.
MYTH #3: Unless someone transitions before puberty, it’s biologically unfair!
First, we need to understand the many rules/regulations in place for trans individuals. Currently in the US, 22 states make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to have access to gender-affirming healthcare. That makes transitioning before puberty impossible. Second, biological diversity already exists amongst cisgender men and women (people who identify the same as their assigned gender at birth). We all know Michael Phelps. His lung capacity is twice the size of the average person, and he produces half of the typical lactic acid levels. He has won 28 Olympic medals, which includes being the first person to win 8 golds during a single Olympics. Now that is dominating! But we don’t yell that it’s unfair for him to compete or ban him from sports. We praise him for his superiority. Another example is a six-foot tall woman. If she’s cisgender, we say, “wow you should be a basketball player, you’re so tall!” But if she’s trans, we say, “oh, that’s unfair!”
A second note on this is the numerous laws being passed banning trans children from playing sports. Research shows there are no physiological differences in sports performance between boys and girls prior to age 12, or pre-pubescent. So, with this information, it shouldn’t matter which kid plays on which team. 10-year-olds are not playing sports for money or to win college scholarships. They are playing to have fun, hang out with friends, and get physical activity. With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity in this country, the takeaway here is to let kids be kids and play on whatever team they want.
References
Bailar S. LET’S TALK ABOUT LIA THOMAS | Schuyler Bailar | PINKMANTARAY. www.pinkmantaray.com. Published 2023. https://www.pinkmantaray.com/resources/lia
Figueroa A, March 9 NE, 2023. National ban on transgender athletes in girls’ sports passed by U.S. House panel. Nebraska Examiner. Published March 9, 2023. https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/03/09/national-ban-on-transgender-athletes-in-girls-sports-passed-by-u-s-house-panel/
Merrill J, Mickus M, Rohlman A. NCAA Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy: Clarifying Application and next Steps.; 2022. https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/inclusion/lgbtq/SSI_TSAP_ClarifyingApplicationandNextSteps.pdf
Cretaz B de la. The IOC Has a New Trans-Inclusion Framework, but Is the Damage Already Done? Sports Illustrated. Published March 23, 2022. https://www.si.com/olympics/2022/03/23/transgender-athletes-testosterone-policies-ioc-framework
Human Rights Campaign. Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State Map. Human Rights Campaign. Published April 24, 2023. https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. Michael Phelps | American swimmer. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. ; 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Phelps
Burns J, McKay M. When it comes to sport, boys “play like a girl.” The Conversation. Published August 3, 2017. https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-sport-boys-play-like-a-girl-80328
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