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Joseph Gibbs

Professor Burleson

WRIT 3307

3 February 2024

Maintaining Fairness in Sports: A Proposal against Transgender Athletes Competing Outside of

Their Biological Sex

For over a century, athletes have been separated by having male sports leagues and

female sports leagues, to maintain fairness in sports. Men and women are biologically very

different and have different capabilities, so it makes sense for men’s and women’s sports to be

separated, that is until transgenderism rose to popularity. The increase in transgenderism over the

past few years has caused sports to become quite controversial. This has put it at the forefront of

society causing debates and disagreements within. More and more biological men are competing

against biological women and vice versa across many different sports. For example, biological

men are facing against biological women in basketball, Olympic sports such as swimming and

running, Olympic lifting, and even football. This mismatch of sexes in sports is leading to

disparities in fairness and giving some athletes extreme competitive advantages over their

competition. In order for this to stop, rules, regulations, and laws need to be created and upheld,

that would prevent transgender athletes from competing against genders other than their

biological sex.

According to Dictionary.com transgenderism is the “possession of a gender identity that

is not congruent with the sex assigned at birth…” Although the terms, “transgender or

transgenderism” weren’t used as we know them until the 1970s, the change in gender roles and
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identity have dated back to the 3rd century B.C. Gala and Galli were Roman priests at the time

who were born male, they would cross-dress and act feminine as an act of worship to a Roman

goddess. Some cultures believed in a third gender such as the two-spirit people in Hijra

indigenous communities. As well as a Roman emperor known as Elagabalus who ruled from

218- 222 A.D., he would dress as a woman, wanted to be called she, and was said to want genital

removal surgery. (Blakemore) All the way until the first person to have gender reassignment in

1952 who changed his name to Christine Jorgenson and is still considered the first transgender in

history.

One of the earliest accounts of a transgender competing in sports dates back to the

Olympics held in Germany, in 1936. A biological male named Richard Raskin who was an

athlete for Germany went by the name Dora Ratjen and disguised himself as a woman. Richard

ended up winning a gold medal for Germany in the women’s division. After the fact he was

arrested and searched, in doing so they discovered that he was a biological male who had been

forced by the Nazis to compete as a woman so Germany could win more medals. In 1975,

Richard had gender reassignment performed, then changed his name to Renee Raskin. He then

started competing against biological women in professional tennis. While playing he won a

tournament that took place in California.

More recent instances of transgender athletes competing against genders other than their

biological sex include William Thomas (known as Lia Thomas) a male swimmer who competed

against biological women and Laural Hubbard a biological male who’s competing against

women in Olympic lifting. Transgenderism is starting to have a major impact on sports and

society as a whole. This rise in popularity has led transgender athletes to want to compete against

their “new identity” rather than face against others of their biological sex, causing an imbalance
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in competition and fairness. So, although the history of transgenderism goes back a long way,

only now is it becoming a true problem in society, specifically sports.

Men and women differ exponentially when viewed from a biological standpoint,

especially when it comes to the difference in athletic ability. All living things contain something

called chromosomes; chromosomes are found in the nucleus of every cell in the body. These

chromosomes are the genetic material that contains a code (directions) for proteins that make up

genes. These genes cause us to have a variety of differences. There is an unlimited number of

combinations of DNA, leading to distinct variation from person to person. This includes the

difference in males and females. Men have XY chromosomes and women have XX

chromosomes, and this cannot be changed no matter what hormones someone may take and

regardless if someone has sex reassignment surgery, nor if they “feel” different from their

biological sex. Along with the difference in male and female genetics, comes athletic capabilities

which differ quite a bit. Men are proven to be capable of higher athletic performance in almost

every category such as speed, strength, muscular capacity, height, etc., this is not sexist, it is

simple biology. Men produce something called testosterone, which is a sex hormone that

primarily is responsible for male growth. While women have testosterone too, they produce only

about 10% of what the average male would. Testosterone is crucial for building muscle mass and

increasing bone density in men, which leads to more strength capacity as well as making the

body more resilient to injuries.

Women also have a greater risk of getting injured than men, while the exact cause is not

certain, it is likely caused by hormones, menstrual cycles, and anatomy. Menstrual cycles have

been proven to cause inconsistencies in athletic performance due to hormone fluctuation.

Whereas men don’t experience much fluctuation, if at all. It would not be fair for a biological
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woman to compete against a male who is constantly capable of performing at a higher athletic

level, whereas women experience an uncontrollable shift in hormones and performance that puts

them at a disadvantage. For example, if a biological female and male athlete were both training

to be Olympic weightlifters and effort, consistency, and training environment were equal, the

female would still be at a disadvantage because of regular hormone fluctuations. In addition, the

female still would not be able to reach the same strength as the male, simply because men have

testosterone and are capable of producing more muscle fibers which leads to more strength.

“There is a common assumption expressed in sport rules that, to guarantee a level playing field,

sport competitions must be divided by weight, age, level of competition, and—crucial for the

present article—dichotomous sex categories. It is believed that male physiology and higher

testosterone provide performance advantages in sport” (Jakubowska 2). So, if a biological

woman is competing against a man, is it really fair to the female? No, it is not, a male should not

be allowed to compete against a female who is biologically at a disadvantage by not having the

capacity for the same muscle strength, size, speed, injury resilience, and stability of athletic

performance.

Many people in society refuse to accept the truth proven through science that women are

not capable of being at the same athletic level as men due to placing inclusion and acceptance

over fairness. Throughout all sports, there is quite a difference in male vs female records and

statistics. For example, according to Guinness World Records, the fastest mile time by a male is

3 minutes 43.13 seconds, while the fastest for a female is 4 minutes 12.33 seconds. Also, the

heaviest clean and jerk recorded by a female was performed by Tatiana Kashrina and she put up

an impressive 425.5 lbs., but the heaviest male clean and jerk is held by Lasha Talakhadze at 595

lbs. These examples are from some of the best athletes on earth and all are very impressive
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numbers. However, imagine Lasha (the male record holder) all of a sudden wanted to start

identifying as a female and started to compete against the biological woman. He then ends up

facing against Tatiana (the female record holder) and lifts more than her at the competition. So

now Tatiana is in second place because a biological man wanted to identify as a woman.

Although this is just a hypothetical situation, this is exactly what’s happening in sports, and it is

not fair to the women who have worked hard to be the best, only to be taken down by a

biological male. “When boys compete in girls’ sports, they win because they have a natural

advantage. It’s scientifically proven, and it’s also common sense” (Jakubowska 13) A real-world

example happened in March of 2022 Emma Weyant is an Olympic silver medalist, who had to

face off against a biological male who switched to a female named Lia Thomas, in the 500-yard

freestyle swim. Emma performed her fastest career time and still came in second to Thomas.

(Winiecki) So, if transgender women are allowed to compete with biological women, it will only

lead to an extreme imbalance in sports. It will cause dominance over female athletes. If this

continues to be allowed, then eventually all of the records held by women in sports will be

broken and overtaken by biological men. So, in a sense, it will only take away opportunities for

woman athletes and take away their achievements and records. If transgender athletes competing

against athletes other than their biological sex isn’t prevented and stopped, then it will lead to the

disbanding of women’s sports.

As of now, there are very few rules and regulations stopping transgender athletes from

participating against genders other than their biological sex. Some states have passed laws

prohibiting children and adult athletes from participating in sports as transgenders against

genders other than their biological sex. However, it is still far from being complete, throughout

the U.S. and the world, many states and countries are still allowing it. Female athletes across the
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world are still being forced to face against biological males and vice versa. Such as Laurel

Hubbard a New Zealand weightlifter who was born a biological male and is competing against

biological females in the Olympics. This further proves it is still happening around the world,

and action needs to be taken to save sports. Laws need to be put in place throughout the World

athletics, Olympics, high schools, colleges, and any other competitive sports leagues and

organizations. These laws need to strictly prohibit any transgender athletes from competing in

sports with genders other than their sex assigned at birth. They need to be based on science and

facts not feelings or wishes. Jakubowska states, “The sport federations, according to the

petitions’ authors, should “recognize science, facts” (jakubowska 13). Laws should be written

and enforced starting at the little league level and continue all the way to the professional level.

Parents of these children need to start protesting anytime their child must go against someone

claiming to be another gender other than their biological sex. Adult athletes also need to fight for

laws to be placed, especially female athletes, as they are the ones being hurt the most. Once these

laws are in place they need to be constantly enforced, and if anyone breaks said laws, they

should not be allowed to participate in any more sports at any level. Review panels should also

be established anytime the rules and laws are broken, to enforce the laws on cases that are out of

the ordinary and big news. There will always be people who will try to break these, however,

once they are established, sports will become fair, just, and full of opportunity.

Integrity and fairness are important across all sports and should be treated as such.

Females should not have to deal with their records being broken or getting second place to a

biological male. Transgender athletes should by all means be allowed to play sports if they so

choose, however only against/with others of the same biological sex. Sports policymakers,

governing bodies, and stakeholders need to prioritize the development and implantation of
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policies and laws that uphold competitive fairness, while also respecting the rights of transgender

athletes. Only then will we see sports return to their former glory and bring fairness back to the

forefront of society.
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Works Cited

Blakemore, Erin. “How Historians Are Documenting the Lives of Transgender People.” History,

National Geographic, 24 May 2023, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-

historians-are-documenting-lives-of-transgender-

people#:~:text=Scholars%20have%20tracked%20the%20term’s,recipient%20of%20sexu

al%20reassignment%20surgery.

“Transgenderism Definition & Usage Examples.” Dictionary.Com, Dictionary.com,

www.dictionary.com/browse/transgenderism. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

Barnes, Katie. “Transgender Athlete Laws by State: Legislation, Science, More.” ESPN, ESPN

Internet Ventures, www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/38209262/transgender-athlete-laws-

state-legislation-science. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

“The Galli: Breaking Roman Gender Norms.” English Heritage, www.english-

heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history/the-

galli/#:~:text=The%20Galli%20were%20priests%20in,a%20fit%20of%20divine%20fren

zy. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

Jones, Bethany Alice, et al. “Sport and transgender people: A systematic review of the literature

relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies.” Sports Medicine, vol. 47,

no. 4, 3 Oct. 2016, pp. 701–716, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0621-y.

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Jakubowska, Honorata. “Who counts as a woman? A critical discourse analysis of petitions against

the participation of transgender athletes in Women’s Sport.” International Review for the

Sociology of Sport, 13 Aug. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902231194570.

“Are Young Women Increasingly Getting Injured in Sports?” Columbia University Irving Medical

Center, 3 Aug. 2023, www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/are-young-women-increasingly-

getting-injured-

sports#:~:text=But%20women%20are%20at%20greater,increasingly%20aggressive%20st

yle%20of%20play.

Devarakonda, Mythili. “What Is the Fastest Mile Time? These Mile Runners Are the Record

Holders.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 8 Feb. 2024,

www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2023/02/15/fastest-mile-time-record/10606213002/.

Winiecki, Zachary. “Sarasota’s Weyant Finishes 2nd behind Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas at

NCAA Final.” WFLA, WFLA, 18 Mar. 2022, www.wfla.com/sports/college-

sports/sarasota-woman-runner-up-to-1st-transgender-d-1-ncaa-champion/.

Harris, Spencer, et al. “The politics of exclusion: Analyzing U.S. state responses to interscholastic

transgender athletes.” International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, vol. 15, no. 4, 7

Aug. 2023, pp. 757–778, https://doi.org/10.1080/19406940.2023.2242878.

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