Rights of trans athletes need to be carefully defended

When I was a little kid in elementary school, I vividly remember always being looked over by the boys when they would pick groups for basketball at recess. 

Instead, they would pick their best friends, leaving just a handful of girls to choose whatever teams they wanted to be on; and ultimately, we would receive no playing time.

Now, imagine being a transgender woman in high school and getting told that you cannot compete in any school athletics because you were bold enough to grow into who you really are.

Devastating.

Trans women should definitely be able to participate in sports, under the correct conditions. Our administration has taken steps to aid trans rights, however, these steps were not outlined harsh enough. 

In April the Biden administration released draft rules  that allow schools under federal funding to reject trans athletes based on physicality and fairness. But, social justice is clearly different across regions of the United States.. 

According to ESPN, since 2020, “23 states have passed laws restricting transgender athletes' ability to participate in school sports in accordance with their gender identity.” 

Those states are mainly in the western regions, which are areas in the U.S. that typically lean to the right politically. Historically, the Republican Party argues against the inclusion of trans athletes. 

A graphic highlighting trans athlete laws by state. Visual by ESPN

Clearly, there are gaps within the drafted rules that allow legislative bias to take over depending on the regions of the U.S.

But, there are instances where trans athletes have taken a stand against laws and have won.

The first known trans woman to compete in organized athletics is Renée Richards, a decorated tennis player. 

According to a study conducted at Queens University in Ontario, Canada, on trans sports debates, in 1976 Richards applied to compete in the U.S. Open. The United States Tennis Association decided to introduce sex testing when they caught wind of her file. 

This wasn’t unusual at the time. The Olympics and other sporting events had subjected individuals to testing. But, for tennis, this was the first time.

Richards filed a lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association. She claimed that it was discriminatory for them to require her to take a sex test. The court ruled in her favor, and she continued to compete as a woman in professional tennis. 

So, what can be done to help trans athletes participate in sports?

As it stands, the NCAA requires testosterone testing for trans athletes, which is outlined in their Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy. 

Collegiate sports are in the middle of phase II. This requires trans athletes to provide documentation of their sports standard testosterone level three times: prior to any competition during the regular season, prior to the first competition in an NCAA championship event and prior to any competition in the non-championship segment.

Beginning Aug.1, 2024, the NCAA will ask trans athletes to provide documentation no less than twice annually. This could include testosterone levels, a timeline of body changes and other information. 

This is a good start for athletics to implement rules for trans athletes to be able to play. But, these rules are still not set by any type of education facility below a collegiate level.

NPR interviewed Dr. Evan Alain, a geneticist who advises sports organizations on trans athletes, on All Things Considered. They asked him multiple questions surrounding trans athlete rights.

“Who's going to undertake all the necessary research to demonstrate a disproportionate advantage, sport by sport, at so many different ages?” Alain asked. “Who will fund this? Likely not the school systems.”

Alain highlighted the fact that high schools and elementary schools already don’t provide their cisgender students with exciting athletic opportunities due to socioeconomic and access issues. So, making a change for trans students will be a tough one.

This is why, on a national level, our administration needs to make stricter rules surrounding trans athletes. That will take away regional and political bias.

According to Dr. Bradley Anawalt, a member of the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, in a Q&A with the University of Washington, there are two disagreements surrounding trans athletes rights. 

One of them is based around science, while the other is based on social justice. 

He stated that, when it comes to the highest levels of athletic competition, “science is not going to provide enough facts to make it clear what's the right thing to do.”

According to Anawalt, there aren’t nearly enough studies done on trans athletes' muscle mass and testosterone levels when competing in sports. However, there is one piece of evidence that can help create guidelines as this debate continues. 

“The scientific data we have indicates that the muscle mass in a typical trans woman who went through puberty remains higher than the muscle mass of a typical cis female for at least one to three years,” he stated. 

Anawalt also mentioned that the best-case scenario for a trans woman to compete in athletics is for them to, if possible, begin hormone therapy before puberty. There are little to no signs of athletic advantage in trans women who complete hormone therapy before puberty.

As a female myself, I can see why people are hesitant to allow trans women to compete in sports. 

Title IX, which allows women to receive the same opportunities as their male counterparts, was only passed 50 years ago. Women have fought for equal rights for all of history and still are fighting today. 

But, that allows women to understand what trans athletes are going through right now. 

The vagueness of the drafted rules under our administration for trans athletes rights are unsettling. They need to be stricter state by state.

More tests have to be conducted on trans athletes, sport by sport, because trans athletes aren’t going to disappear. 

According to the USA spending profile, the U.S. government spent $1.52 trillion on the Department of Defense in 2023. 

Perhaps, taking some of those funds and putting them toward the rights of people of our nation isn’t such a bad idea.