Sports - Vicious Circle or Blatant Discrimination?
How many times in the last two years have we heard discussions around trans women’s eligibility to play in women’s sports?
With all the arguments against excluding trans women from sports, the cries come back the same:
Fairness for women (but only cisgender women)
Unfair physical advantage (never mind the fact that all women’s bodies vary in size and strength)
They can play on the men’s team (regardless of how feminine are their attributes)
Quadruple-edged sword?
Currently we have this:
A ban on puberty blockers → so all trans women will go through a male puberty and end up with a potential physical advantage.
Penalise them for that advantage → their bodies will be stronger and their lung capacity and exercise tolerance greater, so their inclusion would be unfair.
You can’t play on the women’s team → because you have this unfair advantage that you asked to be prevented.
You can’t use our changing rooms → and regardless of all that you can’t use female locker rooms and changing facilities so your ability to train and become the best of the best is severely limited
Behind all the smoke
Behind all the noise and chatter is blatant prejudice and discrimination. Trans girls don’t have the opportunity to train and practice and take part in sports to a level of even amateur or fun, never mind elite olympic levels.
Many trans girls and young women are desperate to access puberty blockers that would prevent their bodies having to go through a testosterone puberty, a treatment that has been shown to be beneficial for transgender adolescents and adults.
WPATH USPATH Statement
Statement in Response to Proposed Legislation Denying Evidence-Based Care for Transgender People Under 18 Years of Age and to Penalize Professionals who Provide that Medical Care1
Puberty suppression has been found to be very beneficial for transgender adolescents, and it is reversible (Mahfouda et al. 2017; Olson-Kennedy et al. 2018; Hodax et al. 2019; Salas-Humara et al. 2019). Further, a recently published study has concluded that transgender adults who had access to pubertal blockers had a lower risk of suicidal ideation compared to those transgender adults who did not have access to pubertal blockers (Turban et al. 2020).
Are we banning physical advantage or gender identity?
If we want to achieve fairness in sports, then make sure we are achieving that goal.
Some trans women will have a physical advantage over cis women, some won’t.
Some cis women will have a physical advantage over other cis women, some won’t.
Achieving fairness means getting your category right
If you create a category for women, all women must be able to play - tall, short, big, small, trans, cis.
If you want to create physical fairness then create categories by weight or height or muscle strength.
Or just leave gender incongruence out of sports - trans people have been running and kicking a ball for centuries, why stop them now?
Why don’t we see trans men dominating it in sports?
Spoiler - it isn’t because they are assigned female at birth. It is because they have an inherent disadvantage, spending their youth and early years working out how to fit in in a gendered world where people exclude them and they have to fight for the right to be seen and accepted. They face challenges with mental health, safety and dignity and potentially miss out on so much.
What opportunities did they have to join clubs, take part in sports, train to an elite level? Or were they fighting with their gender, their body, their place in society, oh and the risk of discrimiation and prejudice that they face every day.
What is the future?
Inclusion for all is paramount, lay out your categories and make sure the inclusion rules are fair.
Make sure we are excluding people for the right reasons, not because they are transgender, but because of their height or weight or shoe size - but that means everyone, not just trans women.
Look ahead - how can we make sports a fair and inclusive place for ALL people, not just those with the financial, social and emotional backing? Imagine that all kids with desire, ability or talent were spotted and nurtured and empowered to take part?
Let’s make the world an inclusive place where we love to take part and watch sports, regardless of the way someone was born.
Over to You
What do you think? How can trans people ever win at sports with all this stacked against them?
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This is part of a series examining cases, commentary and hearings concerning gender identity. If you have a case or article you’d like me to review, get in touch.
https://wpath.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/FINAL-Joint-Statement-Opposing-Anti-Trans-Legislation-Jan-28-2020.pdf