Fairness in Transgender Athletes
One topic that has brought a lot of controversy to college sports in recent years is the fairness of transgender females competing in women’s sports. On March 18th, 2022 history was made in NCAA sports forever. It was the first time that a transgender athlete won a championship. This champion goes by the name of Lia Thomas, and she is a transgender female. Lia is a collegiate athlete who swims for the University of Pennsylvania. She previously swam on the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s team before undergoing testosterone suppression therapy. The NCAA only requires that transgender athletes show proof of testosterone suppression being taken for at least a year before allowing them to compete as a female. Thomas did this and was accepted by the NCAA to compete as a female during the 2021-2022 swim season. Lia Thomas was ranked 554th in the nation, during the 2018-2019 season where she swam as a male in the 200-yard freestyle. However, now that she is swimming as a female, she is currently ranked 5th in the nation. While competing in the Ivy League’s male division, she was ranked 65th in the nation in the 500–yard freestyle event. Now competing in the women’s division, she is the top ranked swimmer in this event. Also, in the 100-yard freestyle as a male competitor her time was 47.15 seconds. Interestingly enough, as a female swimmer her time is 47.35 seconds. This shows little change in her times between competing as a male and as a female. This is highly unfair for all biologically female swimmers who have dedicated their whole lives to the sport.
There are several concerns that need to be addressed before a solution can be found. These concerns include the barriers to transgender athletes, the biological differences between males and females, and the different perspectives of those involved. The barriers faced by transgender athletes include the environment surrounding the sport, the clothing worn to participate, the locker rooms, and the stigma associated with a transgender athlete. Sports are divided by gender, so transgender athletes often say they are not included or comfortable with the environment. Transgender women often say that their voices keep them from being fully involved in athletics. The clothing worn to participate in certain sports can also be a deterrent for some transgender athletes. This clothing is often revealing and would identify the true biology of the athlete. The locker rooms also create a hardship for transgender athletes. These athletes are often excluded from the locker rooms, and this separates them from their teammates and does not allow them to focus on their new identity. Lastly, the stigma associated with a transgender athlete is very damaging to his/her mental and physical health and limits the opportunities he or she are given. These barriers should be considered when a policy regarding transgender athletes is created.
There are certain biological differences that give transgender women advantages over biological females. First, Lia Thomas stands at approximately six-foot one inches tall, whereas, the average of the other female competitors stands at five-foot nine inches tall. In a competition that determines winners and losers by milliseconds, standing 4 inches taller than your competition helps your chances of winning greatly. Second is the difference in the strength between a male and female athlete. Lia had been training and competing against men her whole life. Before her transition, she was competing to be the best male athlete; therefore, when she started swimming with the females, she would naturally be stronger than her competition. Science allegedly showed that transgender woman had larger hands and feet, bigger hearts, and greater bone density and lung capacity. All of these would be an advantage to a transgender woman competing with other biological females.
Next, there are different perspectives that need to be considered. Many people oppose transgender women competing against biological females. First and foremost, you need to investigate the swim team at the University of Pennsylvania. Many of Lia’s teammates claim to support her decision outside of the pool. However, sixteen out of her forty teammates submitted an anonymous letter criticizing her unfairness in the pool. In the letter they made sure it was clear that they fully supported her, but later stated, “when it comes to competition, that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone’s gender identity.” The letter goes on to talk about how she holds an unfair advantage in women’s sports, and it is evident by her overall ranking in the men’s category as 462nd to 1st in the women’s category. Similarly, one of the athletes, that competed against Lia, spoke out about the issue. Reka Gyorgy represents the other female athletes who had to compete against Lia during the course of the season. Reka goes to school at Virginia Tech and finished 17th in the 500-yard freestyle. She states, “Every event that transgender athletes participated in was one spot taken away from biological females throughout the meet.” Reka refers to this controversial topic as, “a problem in our sport right now.” Michael Phelps said there needs to be an “even playing field” within the sport. There are also many people who support transgender women competing with biological females. Over 300 current and former swimmers signed their names to an open letter defending Lia Thomas. One of her biggest supporters a transgender male, Schuyler Bailar, swam on the male swim team at the University of Harvard. He was the first known openly transgender D-1 athlete. He makes a statement saying, “our transness is not something we can take off and put back on. We are whole people.” Lia Thomas said, “I am a woman, just like anybody else on the team”. She also commented that she was trying to let other transgender athletes know that they are not alone and that they need to compete and be true to themselves.
The reality is that a solution needs to be found that will be inclusive to the transgender athletes but fair to ALL athletes. The goal of all athletes should be to “participate meaningfully” with others with similar skill sets. To make sure that each athlete has a fair and equal chance at winning the competition, the NCAA should require that transgender athletes show proof of testosterone levels. Just because someone has taken testosterone suppression for a year does not necessarily mean that their levels of testosterone are similar to that of a biological female. Thus, giving them an advantage. This solution allows for transgender females to have the ability to compete more fairly with their competition. However, the muscular advantage is only slightly reduced after testosterone reducing therapies. To account for this the NCAA could also create new categories for competition. They could continue with males and females as designated by your sex at birth and create a third open category for all others to compete in. Specific guidelines would need to be established concerning testosterone levels, body mass, height, etc to determine if the athlete could compete in the women’s category or open category. The bottom line should be to find a solution that is both inclusive and fair to all athletes.