Debunking Trans athletes myths
For years state lawmakers have pushed legislation attempting to shut trans people out of
public spaces. In 2020, lawmakers zeroed in on sports and introduced 20 bills seeking to ban
trans people from participating in athletics. These statewide efforts have been supported
through a coordinated campaign led by anti-LGBTQ groups that have long worked to attack our
communities. It will require rooting out the inaccurate and harmful beliefs underlying these
policies. Below, we debunk three myths about trans athletes using the expertise of doctors,
academics, and sports psychologists serving as experts in our litigation in Idaho.
Studys have shown that even if a cisgender woman gose head to head with a trans
woman its either of there game. Trans women have no unfair advantage when it comes to being
physically better at sport just because they were born different than what they identified as. "A
person's genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful
indicators of athletic performance,"according to Dr. Joshua D. Safer"For a trans woman athlete
who meets NCAA standards, "there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics
related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological
characteristics of a non-transgender woman."
Women and girls who are trans have been told repeatedly that they are not real
"women" as well as boys who are trans have been told that they are not real "men". Also
nonbinary people have been told that their gender has to be femal or male. Women come all
differently no matter their gender, sexual identity or disability; it's a range of different physical
characteristics. "A person sex is made up of multiple biological charcahtertics and they may not
alligne a male or female" says Dr.Safer. Many people who are not trans can have hom,onal levis
outside of their range of a cisgender person.
Trans people have the right to play sports just as much as anybody else.
Excluding trans people from any activity can be hamiful especially for the younger side
of the trans community A trans high school student, for example, may experience
detrimental effects to their physical and emotional wellbeing when they are pushed out
of affirming spaces and communities. In athletics because they are transgender, that
condones, reinforces, and affim,s the transgender students' socialstatus as outsiders or
misfits who deserve the hostility they experience from peers. Denying trans people the
right to participate is discrimination and it doesn't just hurt trans people, it hurts all of us.
In conclusion the 4 myths that I mentioned are more true and never have been.
We shouldn1 discriminate against people that are different from us. It's 2021 everyone
should just respect how others live their lives instead of having an opinion on something
you don't know about. Instead of thinking someone looks different from you, mind your
own business and do your research.
The 3 myths
MYTH: Trans athletes' physiological characteristics provide an unfair advantage over cis
athletes.
MYTH: Sex is binary, apparent at birth, and identifiable through singular biological
characteristics.
MYTH: Trans students need separate teams.
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