Transgender Athletes

Context

First: in this brief, we have decided to denote all transgender individuals with their present name and gender, not the ones assigned at birth.

In March 2022, Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania swimming team was the first transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I championship. Having shattered records over the course of the 2021-2022 season, many were skeptical of Thomas' progression. After competing for the men's team just a few years prior, many felt it was unfair for an athlete assigned male at birth to be competing in a women's field.

Thus erupted the debate over transgender athletes in sports, which has spread from college sports to the highest competitive levels and even middle schools. Over the course of this conversation, please be respectful to transgender individuals by using their name and pronouns.

Republican

For the most part, Republicans have been opposed to transgender women competing in women's sports.

The main argument is that transgender athletes assigned male at birth (AMAB) have a biological advantage compared to females in terms of muscle mass, height, and lung capacity. Sports like swimming, where physical characteristics like this have an outsized impact (compared to, say, the strategy of basketball or football) feel a real sense of unfairness when someone with biological advantages simply moves to the top.

To evaluate the Lia Thomas situation, she had previously placed in the mid-500s when competing against men. After moving to the women's division, she ultimately won a national title, despite losing time on her swims.

In addition to the question of competitive fairness, some make the argument that female athletes are uncomfortable having someone AMAB in the locker room. Riley Gaines, an athlete competing against Thomas, has spoken on this issue, saying that it was seriously wrong to have a 22-year old "man" in a locker room with 18-year old girls, fully unclothed. Many parents on this side of the debate worry for both their daughter's competitive success and her privacy and comfort in the locker room.

Regardless, very few Republicans believe that the government should step in to stop this.

Democrat

Most democrats argue that the impact of transgender athlete in women's sports is overstated and actively harms transgender individuals.

Because of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), many transgender athletes do not have such large an advantage over other athletes. As most of the advantages of biological males (increased muscle mass, chiefly) are derived from higher levels of testosterone, replacing the testosterone with estrogen can serve to decrease the gap.

Additionally, progressives argue that transgender athletes should be entitled to the same rights as other people: after all, natural biological differences already exist between athletes, as some are just taller than others. Maybe banning transgender athletes from women's sports is just like banning people over 7 feet tall from the NBA.

It is true that there are relatively few transgender athletes in women's sports, so perhaps conservative claims about their impact are overstated.

Finally, in youth sports, the difference between male and female athletes is less pronounced, so progressives argue that youth leagues should allow transgender athletes to compete on the principle of inclusion.

Discussion Question

What do you think of the NBA analogy?
Which arguments convince you towards one side or another?
What do you think of transgender athletes in youth sports? If you're for inclusion in youth sports but not for college and beyond, where might you draw the line?
How can you disallow transgender athletes from women's sports while still uplifting the transgender community? Is this inherently transphobic?

Sources

Swimming World Magazine. "A Look at the Numbers and the Times: No Denying the Advantages of Lia Thomas," April 5, 2022. https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/a-look-at-the-numbers-and-times-no-denying-the-advantages-of-lia-thomas/

Cato Institute. "Transgender Athletes, Fair Competition, and Public Policy," Fall 2022. https://www.cato.org/regulation/fall-2022/transgender-athletes-fair-competition-public-policy

US Senator Josh Hawley. "'Any Man Could've Walked into our Locker Room,' Riley Gaines Recounts to Senator Hawley," June 21, 2023. https://www.hawley.senate.gov/any-man-couldve-walked-our-locker-room-riley-gaines-recounts-senator-hawley/

British Journal of Sports Medicine. "Effect of gender affirming hormones on athletic performance in transwomen and transmen: implications for sporting organisations and legislators," December 7, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33288617/