Women’s Sports
Resource Center: Women’s Sports
- When male-bodied athletes compete against females, they have an unfair advantage. The science is clear: the average male is stronger, bigger, and faster than the average female. Males, therefore, dominate in sports where strength, size, or speed are relevant factors.
- When male-bodied athletes participate in women’s sports they take opportunities from females. On teams with limited roster spots, the participation of biological males inevitably means that women and girls will lose opportunities to play and, in some cases, scholarships.
- When male-bodied athletes participate in women’s sports, female athletes can get hurt. Because of strength and size differentials, allowing biological males to participate in certain women’s sports places females at risk of physical injury.
- Allowing male-bodied athletes to participate in women’s sports undermines Title IX. Congress passed Title IX in 1972 to expand opportunities for women and girls. Since 1972, the creation of separate single-sex teams for female athletes has led to an explosion in female athletic participation. Eliminating single-sex teams will inevitably erode some of those gains.
MYTH: Transgender athletes lose any competitive advantage over females once they start suppressing testosterone.
FACT: It is almost impossible for genetic males to lower their testosterone to female levels. Even if they could, testosterone suppression cannot alter height, wing span, or body architecture and it does not decrease strength or speed to female levels.
MYTH: Preventing transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports is discriminatory.
FACT: Competitive sports are not supposed to be inclusive. Varsity teams are selective; colleges recruit athletes to fill their rosters. Not everyone gets to participate in these activities.
FACT: In order to qualify for a women’s team, athletes need to be biologically female. It is not discriminatory to require that athletes meet that basic qualification any more than it is discriminatory to require that athletes be enrolled in the particular school that offers the team in order to play for that school.
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