Policies put pressure on transgender athletes, school curriculums

Legislators address transgender athletes in schools

Nationwide, conservative politicians have targeted transgender youth by introducing legislation that bars their participation in school sports that align with their gender identity. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, currently 18 states have bans in effect, primarily in K-12 schools, but sometimes extending to the collegiate level.

On April 6, the Biden administration introduced a Title IX change proposal that would prevent states and schools from enacting blanket-level bans on transgender athletes. Teams could still create limits on a case-by-case basis “when they enable the school to achieve an important educational objective,” according to the U.S. Department of Education. However, completely barring participation would violate Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs.

These laws have honed in on transgender women and girls competing in women’s athletics, as some argue transgender women and girls have an unfair biological advantage over their cisgender counterparts. A 2021 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that , at the Olympic level, transgender women performed 10% more pushups and 6% more situps than cisgender women after one year of hormone therapy. After two years of hormone therapy, trangender women performed at the same physical level as cisgender women.

’Stoga alumna Megan Smith, a transgender woman who plays club sports at the collegiate level, feels that the length of treatment should determine one’s eligibility in the sport.

“I think it’s ridiculous to go ‘I’m trans’ one day and ‘I should immediately switch (categories in athletic competition)’ because that’s people taking advantage of the system,” Smith said.

However, after receiving treatment through transgender hormone therapy, Smith feels the differences between transgender and cisgender females are minimized.

“After a certain duration, I do not have any biological advantages people talk about. However, it doesn’t matter, because any achievement or accolade I get in a sport is diminished and just ridiculed. Because, ‘Oh, she’s trans, so she just doesn’t deserve any credits,’” Smith said.

Smith takes medication that blocks testosterone and increases levels of estrogen and progesterone. Current guidelines established by governing bodies like the International Olympic Committee state that transgender women athletes must maintain testosterone levels below 10 nanomoles/liter, although the average for cisgender women falls between 0.3-2.4 nanomoles/liter.

From personal experience, as long as Smith’s physique aligned with her gender identity, no one questioned her participation at the collegiate club level.

“Because I ‘pass’ — I look female, I sound femme, etcetera, etcetera — no one knows (I am trans). If I still have very masculine traits, that’s when you get the discrimination,” Smith said. “It’s sort of like erasure in that I’m ‘allowed’ to be trans because I look female.”

While controversy largely surrounds transgender women in sports, transgender men may face similar challenges.

Senior Macyn Bass socially transitioned as a transgender man in July 2022, but has not medically transitioned. Bass plays for the girls rugby team as a personal choice.

“I feel more comfortable with the girls — I kind of always have — but I think it really depends on the athlete,” Bass said. “As much as there is transphobia, there’s also a misogynistic take because it’s rooted in the idea that women can’t compete. It’s completely unfair. I have met some of the strongest women in sports, and they could compete with any man that you put them up against.”

Currently in Pennsylvania, anti-trans sports bills were introduced into the state legislature, but none have been passed.