Transgender Athletes

Writers note: I am updating my original article because I have continued to research the question of transgender athletes in competitive sports.

I have been thinking about International Transgender Day of Visibility that is celebrated tomorrow. One area that has been a major source of backlash against transgender individuals here in the US is the right for transgender athletes to complete as the gender they identify with.

I have been involved in competitive sports all my life, as an athlete both in the US and abroad and as a coach. Honestly, it has been difficult for me to accept that, in particular, MTF athletes don’t have an advantage over cisgender female athletes as well.

Then I found two things that finally cleared my mind on the subject, a recent article in AP and the NCAA Transgender Handbook.

Here is a excerpt from the AP article titled “Lawmakers can’t cite local examples of trans girls in sports.” March 3, 2021

“Legislators in more than 20 states have introduced bills this year that would ban transgender girls from competing on girls’ sports teams in public high schools. Yet in almost every case, sponsors cannot cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation has caused problems.

The Associated Press reached out to two dozen state lawmakers sponsoring such measures around the country as well as the conservative groups supporting them and found only a few times it’s been an issue among the hundreds of…