Each week, we surface viewpoints from multiple sides of a current issue to help you better understand it and form a viewpoint of your own. We write each viewpoint from the perspective of the individual(s) expressing it, taking on their voice and summarizing where possible for digestibility. The viewpoints written are not those of Framechange.
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What’s happening
On Monday, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced a policy banning transgender women (individuals assigned male at birth that identify as female) from competing in women’s sports. The NAIA, which governs roughly 83,000 athletes across 241 mostly small and private colleges, is the first college sports organization to enact such a policy.
Details: The NAIA policy prohibits trans women from participating in intercollegiate competition, but allows participation in certain exhibitions and events internal to their school. It also prohibits transgender men (individuals assigned female at birth that identify as male) that have begun masculinizing hormone therapy from competing in women’s sports. There are no restrictions on participation in men’s sports.
NCAA rules: The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), which governs 500,000+ athletes and is the largest college sports governing body in the US, had rules in place since 2010 that required trans women to undergo testosterone suppression therapy for at least 12 months prior to competing in women's sports. In 2022, the NCAA updated its rules to align with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) revised 2021 policies, calling for transgender participation rules to be determined on a sport-by-sport basis according to each sport’s national governing body.
The new NCAA rules, which are more permissive of transgender athlete participation than the NAIA’s ban, have been rolling out in a 3-phased approach and are scheduled to fully take effect on Aug 1. (Some sport-specific limits on serum testosterone levels of trans women – commonly 10 nmol/L – have been in effect since 2022.)
NCAA lawsuit: In March, 16 cisgender women (individuals assigned female at birth that identify as female) sued the NCAA for allowing transgender athletes to compete against them. The suit states the NCAA violated Title IX, a federal law that protects equal opportunity for men and women in college sports and education, when it allowed trans woman swimmer Lia Thomas to compete at the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championships. Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle title at the event and was the most successful trans athlete in college sports. (An estimated 39 trans college athletes have competed openly.)
The NAIA ban has intensified debate over the extent to which trans women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Much of the debate is centered around the merits of inclusion and whether trans women benefit from an unfair advantage over cis women.
Read on to learn more and let us know what you think.
Notable viewpoints
MORE OPPOSED TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANS WOMEN ATHLETES
Trans women should be granted an inclusive and safe space to play sports.
- Sport is a fulfilling self-development opportunity that nobody should be excluded from, including trans people.
- “Sports are for everyone. Trans athletes deserve access to life-saving sport spaces, to build community and engage in competition, at all ages and levels. We must keep fighting to defend it.” (E. Matteo Diaz and Kris King, trans Harvard students and trans advocates.)
- Excluding trans women from the team consistent with their identity can be deeply harmful and disruptive to their health.
The NAIA ban steps too far in prohibiting all trans women from all women’s sports.
- Many trans people and trans advocates are not asking for zero regulation but rather evidence-based regulation over an outright ban.
- Since the impact of certain physical characteristics varies by sport, regulating all sports as if they are the same rather than sport-specific rules unnecessarily harms trans women athletes.
- Excluding trans women from women’s sports is discriminatory and a more clear violation of Title IX rights than including them.
Biological differences between trans women and cis women do not create a significant enough advantage in sports.
- Arguments citing the biological advantages of trans athletes fail to account for the social and psychological barriers that make it challenging for them to participate and compete.
- While some studies find that strength levels of trans women remain above those of cis women after hormone therapy, performance in sport depends on a diversity of other factors including technique and hand-eye coordination.
- Arguments that trans women have an unfair advantage over cis women fail to acknowledge the fact that biological diversity is necessary and inherent to sport; cis male Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, for instance, had abnormally low levels of lactic acid and a large wingspan compared to his cis male competitors.
Recent rule changes have more to do with politics around trans people than concern for athlete well-being.
- “[The] NAIA and NCAA, along with many other sport organizations, teams, and leagues, have been under attack by anti-trans groups and individuals who have made it their life’s work to harm transgender people.” (Chris Mosier, trans activist and first out trans athlete to represent the US in international competition.)
There is no conclusive evidence that trans women maintain significant advantages over cis women in athletics.
- A 2020 study on US Air Force service members found that trans women having gone through 2 years of hormone replacement therapy had push-up and sit-up strength that was not distinguishable from that of cis women. (Running times were 12% faster than cis women.)
- A 2021 systematic review found that trans women’s hemoglobin levels – an important factor in endurance sports – reduced to the levels of cis women in as little as 4 months of gender-affirming hormone therapy. (Strength levels remained above those of cis women after 36 months of hormone therapy.)
- The International Federation of Sports Medicine (IFSM), which represents ~125,000 physicians across 117 countries, said in 2021 there is insufficient data to support a universal ban on trans women in women’s sports, and that governance should be sport-specific.
- A 2015 study on 8 trans women runners found their distance racing times slowed substantially after completing their gender transition, suggesting the trans women had no advantage over cis women.
MORE SUPPORTIVE OF RESTRICTIONS ON TRANS WOMEN ATHLETES
The NAIA ban on trans women in women’s sports adheres to Title IX’s emphasis on safety and fair competition.
- “For us, we believed our first responsibility was to create fairness and competition in the NAIA…We also think it aligns with the reasons Title IX was created. You’re allowed to have separate but equal opportunities for women to compete.” (Jim Carr, NAIA CEO.)
- Title IX was created to ensure fair competition, safety, and privacy for women; allowing trans women to compete against cis women infringes upon those protections and discriminates against cis women.
Trans women competing in women’s sports threatens cis women’s privacy and safety.
- Sharing a locker room with trans women is uncomfortable for some cis women and violates their privacy.
- “Never in my 18-year career had I seen a man changing in the locker rooms. I immediately felt the need to cover myself…I could feel the discomfort of the other girls in there.” (Kaitlynn Wheeler, cis woman, former University of Kentucky swimmer, and plaintiff in the lawsuit against the NCAA from 16 cis women college athletes.)
- The inclusion of trans women in women’s sports raises safety risks for cis women, particularly in contact sports and combat sports.
Trans women participating in women’s sports is competitively unfair.
- NCAA rules currently allow trans women to compete against cis women with testosterone levels up to 5 times higher than those of cis women and are based on an inadequate premise that testosterone suppression evens the playing field. (Summarized from lawsuit against NCAA from 16 cis women college athletes.)
- “I’d like to point out that I respect and fully stand with Lia Thomas; I am convinced that she is no different than me or any other D1 swimmer who [w]as woken up at 5am her entire life for morning practice…On the other hand…It feels like [a final spot] was taken away from me because of the NCAA’s decision to let someone who is not a biological female compete.” (Réka György, cis woman and swimmer who competed against trans woman swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA championships, in a personal letter to the NCAA.)
- The NCAA’s rules are not consistent with important sport-specific governing bodies, such as World Aquatics, which prohibits any athlete that has gone through male puberty from competing in women’s swimming and diving. (Summarized from lawsuit against NCAA from 16 cis women college athletes.)
- “[Y]ou’re going to reduce performance by a small amount if you reduce testosterone levels, but you’re never going to bridge the gap between men and women. And so it’s a ruse to say that testosterone suppression, it’s a level playing field, so it’s not true.” (William Bock, former general counsel of US Anti-Doping Agency who resigned in disagreement from the NCAA Committee on Infractions in Feb 2024.)
Studies show that trans women maintain physical advantages over cis women.
- A 2020 study on trans women in the US Air Force found that trans women having undergone at least 2 years of hormone replacement therapy were still 12% faster than cis women. (Push-up and sit-up strength were indistinguishable between trans women and cis women after 2 years.)
- A 2020 study by Sweden's Karolinska Institute found that trans women having undergone one year of gender-affirming hormone therapy generally maintained their strength levels from before.
- A 2021 systematic review found that strength levels of trans women undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy remained above those of cis women even after 36 months of treatment. (Hemoglobin levels – an important factor in endurance sports – reduced to those of cis women in as little as 4 months of hormone therapy.)
- A 2021 systematic review found that testosterone suppression in trans women only minimally reduces the muscular advantages enjoyed by trans women over cis women, and does not drastically reduce the 10-50% physical advantage, depending on the sport, enjoyed by individuals that have gone through male puberty.
- “Having gone through female puberty does not provide you with a baseline skeletal advantage over your average cis man. You're getting testosterone, which levels the playing field in large part because testosterone really produces a lot of differences, but there's not that extra anatomical advantage that a trans woman has over cis women.” (Dr. Timothy Roberts, author of 2020 study on trans women in the US Air Force.)
From the source
Read more from select primary sources:
- Full text of NAIA transgender policy: Transgender Participation Policy
- Full text of the lawsuit against the NCAA by 16 cis women athletes: Filing
- Updated NCAA policy rolling out from 2022-2024: Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy
- 2021 International Olympic Committee (IOC) framework for transgender participation: Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations
- 2023 World Athletics policy on transgender participation: Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes
- 2022 World Aquatics policy on transgender participation: Policy on Eligibility for the Men’s and Women’s Competition Categories
- 2011 NCAA Office of Inclusion report on previous policy recommendations: NCAA Inclusion of Transgender Student-Athletes
- Previous NCAA rules in effect from 2010: 2010 NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation
Be heard
We want to hear from you! Share your perspective on trans women in women’s college sports and we may feature it in our socials or future newsletters. Reply to this email in the format of your choosing (text, audio, or video). Below are topic ideas to consider.
- Do you support a complete ban, sport-specific restrictions, or no restrictions on trans women participating in women’s sports?
- What are some arguments or supporting points you appreciate about a viewpoint you disagree with?
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