"Transgender youth are being targeted in sports right now, simply because of their identity. With sports being so ingrained in American culture, it’s no surprise that trans kids would play, right? After all, they’re just kids. But some people argue that performing on a team of people with the opposite birth-assigned sex would give one the upper hand. " -- Declan McMahon, 8th grade
Transgender youth are being targeted in sports right now, simply because of their identity. With sports being so ingrained in American culture, it’s no surprise that trans kids would play, right? After all, they’re just kids. But some people argue that performing on a team of people with the opposite birth-assigned sex would give one the upper hand.
At first, it might make sense. But the more you think about it, the more you realize that it doesn’t. Trans kids are just kids, just trying to play sports like they’ve been taught. Invalidating them, misgendering them, and not letting them play is transphobic, bigoted, detrimental, and just plain mean.
The GOP’s main argument in favor of bills like Maine’s LD926 is that trans girls on girls teams may have an “anatomical advantage.” There are a lot of reasons why this is just plain wrong. First of all, only about 0.7% of teens (between 13 and 17) identify as transgender, according to a study conducted by the Williams Institute at the UCLA school of law. According to a report by the Human Rights Foundation, only 12% of transgender girls play sports. So, if we assume that about half of that 0.7% is trans girls (the other half being boys) then 0.35% of teen girls in the U.S. are trans. 12% of them are athletes, so about 0.0042% percent of the girls high school athletic community are trans girls. That means that 4 out of every 10,000 high school athletes are trans, girls, and athletes. 4 out of every 10,000, some of whom are on puberty blockers or hormones wouldn’t pose much threat to the sporting community as a whole.
As Tim Roberts, head of adolescent medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri puts it, “There’s natural variation in talent, there’s natural variation in testosterone levels. There’s never really been a level playing field.” Some people, frankly, are just born different. Watch any sports match ever. Players aren’t clones of each other. And more often than not, in women’s and men’s sports, there’s someone who's smaller or much bigger than the others. As Roberts said, the playing field has never been level. There’s always natural variation that can lead to competitive advantages. It’s really no different.
Also, school sports have always been beneficial to children. They provide social connections, long-lasting friendships, and athletic and fitness benefits.
With these bills, conservatives don’t even know who they’re affecting. Recently, a report by the Associated Press found that most supporters of these bans don’t even know of a single case where transgender girls have outshined other girls due to their “natural advantage.” Rep. Ashley Trantham of South Carolina said she didn’t know of any trans girls competing in school sports in South Carolina but said the ban was necessary, “[Otherwise] the next generation of female athletes in South Carolina may not have a chance to excel.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton of Tennessee says that he doesn’t know of any trans kids currently competing in school sports but says the bill Tennessee is proposing is a necessary “proactive” measure. Other lawmakers cite one case of two Connecticut sprinters, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood who won many competitive medals from 2017 to 2019, earning them a lawsuit. But many are quick to point out flaws with this. “It’s [the lawmaker’s] Exhibit A, and there’s no Exhibit B — absolutely none,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a prominent trans-rights attorney.
What it all boils down to though, is that the GOP are making laws banning innocent children from doing something they love with no real reasoning. What reasoning they do have can be easily disproved, and they truly don’t know who they’re affecting. Politics should be kept out of youth sports, school sports, trans lives, and kids lives in general. These sports bans, many of which intentionally misgender trans girls, calling them “biological males” are wrong, harsh, flimsy, bigoted, and just plain transphobic. It needs to stop. To learn more, do a simple Google search.
At first, it might make sense. But the more you think about it, the more you realize that it doesn’t. Trans kids are just kids, just trying to play sports like they’ve been taught. Invalidating them, misgendering them, and not letting them play is transphobic, bigoted, detrimental, and just plain mean.
The GOP’s main argument in favor of bills like Maine’s LD926 is that trans girls on girls teams may have an “anatomical advantage.” There are a lot of reasons why this is just plain wrong. First of all, only about 0.7% of teens (between 13 and 17) identify as transgender, according to a study conducted by the Williams Institute at the UCLA school of law. According to a report by the Human Rights Foundation, only 12% of transgender girls play sports. So, if we assume that about half of that 0.7% is trans girls (the other half being boys) then 0.35% of teen girls in the U.S. are trans. 12% of them are athletes, so about 0.0042% percent of the girls high school athletic community are trans girls. That means that 4 out of every 10,000 high school athletes are trans, girls, and athletes. 4 out of every 10,000, some of whom are on puberty blockers or hormones wouldn’t pose much threat to the sporting community as a whole.
As Tim Roberts, head of adolescent medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri puts it, “There’s natural variation in talent, there’s natural variation in testosterone levels. There’s never really been a level playing field.” Some people, frankly, are just born different. Watch any sports match ever. Players aren’t clones of each other. And more often than not, in women’s and men’s sports, there’s someone who's smaller or much bigger than the others. As Roberts said, the playing field has never been level. There’s always natural variation that can lead to competitive advantages. It’s really no different.
Also, school sports have always been beneficial to children. They provide social connections, long-lasting friendships, and athletic and fitness benefits.
With these bills, conservatives don’t even know who they’re affecting. Recently, a report by the Associated Press found that most supporters of these bans don’t even know of a single case where transgender girls have outshined other girls due to their “natural advantage.” Rep. Ashley Trantham of South Carolina said she didn’t know of any trans girls competing in school sports in South Carolina but said the ban was necessary, “[Otherwise] the next generation of female athletes in South Carolina may not have a chance to excel.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton of Tennessee says that he doesn’t know of any trans kids currently competing in school sports but says the bill Tennessee is proposing is a necessary “proactive” measure. Other lawmakers cite one case of two Connecticut sprinters, Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood who won many competitive medals from 2017 to 2019, earning them a lawsuit. But many are quick to point out flaws with this. “It’s [the lawmaker’s] Exhibit A, and there’s no Exhibit B — absolutely none,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a prominent trans-rights attorney.
What it all boils down to though, is that the GOP are making laws banning innocent children from doing something they love with no real reasoning. What reasoning they do have can be easily disproved, and they truly don’t know who they’re affecting. Politics should be kept out of youth sports, school sports, trans lives, and kids lives in general. These sports bans, many of which intentionally misgender trans girls, calling them “biological males” are wrong, harsh, flimsy, bigoted, and just plain transphobic. It needs to stop. To learn more, do a simple Google search.
