Essay Sample on Transgender in Sports

Transgenderism has been around since before written history. The rights for transgender citizens have been taking place in the United States since the 1950s. It's been popular in many cultures such as among the indigenous people. The U.S.A. is the most popular for transgenderism. There are many transgender-friendly states. Trans is an umbrella term, the term started getting popular in the 1960s-1970s. It may seem that there are more trans individuals than before but that's because more trans people are open to talking about it. “Many trans people talk about their experience of having the feeling of being trans, but not knowing how to respond to it until they see or hear about the existence of other trans people” (trans hub) There are many trans activists today such as Jazz Jennings and Caitlyn Jenner. Both of these activists are famous on various social media platforms. 

The Gay/Transgender rights movement is a movement that started in 1969. Some major milestones in that movement were “The Transexual Phenomenon” which is a book written by the physician Harry Benjamin, this book is about how trans people could transition medically. There was also “The Stonewall Riots” The Stonewall Riots were riots that took place because police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club. The club was located in Greenwich Village, New York City. “The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighboring streets, and nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots catalyzed the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.” Many more events helped the movement but these were some of the major ones. 

“We cannot allow transgender females to compete against biological women. A biological male goes through male puberty. Even when she has transitioned, she still has the physiology of a male. A few years of testosterone blockers and estrogen doesn’t change the fact that she will have more powerful muscles, a larger heart, and greater lung capacity (than) a biological woman.” (swimming world magazine). Many people believe transgender women should not be able to compete with biological females. This has been happening more frequently, where they compete as the gender they identify with instead of the gender they are biological. The reason why there are male and female sports is that males are biologically stronger than females. If biological men cannot compete against biological women why should trans “women” be able to compete against them?

It is important to know the science of this topic. Males have different testosterone levels, different skeletal structures, and more muscle mass. “ The study suggested testosterone exposure at puberty had unique effects such as changing skeletal structure and limb length which estrogen exposure to later in life cannot suppress.”(University of Toronto). This states that no matter how much hormonal therapy they go through, skeletal and testosterone changes during puberty. You cannot change this. So this is biologically unfair. 

 “If you go from a thousandth place to a thousandth place, that’s fair,” she said. “But she’s going from not being able to qualify for the N.C.A.A.s to being ranked first.” (The Newyorker). Lia Thomas is a transgender female who went from losing in the men's N.C.A.A. swimming races to placing 1st in the women's. Lia Thomas is much stronger than the other cisgender females. She had been doing hormonal therapy since 2019 however, “During puberty, testosterone exposure

has ergogenic effects resulting in differences aside from just muscle development. This includes

differences in the skeletal structure such as height, limb length, and pelvic architecture” (University of Toronto). This shows that puberty has some unchangeable factors that separate males and females. So no matter how much hormonal therapy they go through it cannot suppress their original gender. 

There aren’t many cases of transgender men in men's sports. There could be a reason behind this such as that they don't want to compete in male sports because it is a harder challenge. So maybe there is a reason for men transitioning into females, so they can win easily in the female category because they couldn't win in the male. So if men only do this to win, how is it fair to females? Why do trans people when it comes to sports only transition to females? This is unfair to female sports and is why we must protect them. If a woman competed in a male sport it would be dangerous and that is why we have different categories in sports. If they wanted to make it fair why couldn't they just make a separate category for transgender individuals? People may say that this is being transphobic but this is being fair. Women’s sports are in danger and if we don't do something about it now it could stay that way. “But, like so many other hard-fought women’s rights, today’s generation seems to have forgotten the history and importance of the laws and policies that ensured females were no longer treated as second-class citizens.” (unherd.com). 

Women and women's sports are in danger. Fallon Fox is a trans female who is an MMA fighter. She transitioned to female in 2013. Fallon is biologically male so this means she's stronger than the other biological women competing. Fallon was fighting contestant Tamikka Brents and Broke her skull. Tamika suffered a concussion, oral bone fracture, and seven staples to the head in the first round. This is dangerous for cisgender females because it could have some long-term effects. She got some backlash from people for being trans. If she is strong enough to break someone's skull shouldn't she compete with a tougher competition? Women in the UFC are getting stripped of their opportunities. “I’m not saying transgender girls are going to take over women’s sports. I’m saying that the law protects girls and women, and they shouldn’t have to compete against someone who has an immutable testosterone-based advantage.”(Donna Lopiano, The Washington Post). 

There is also a different side of transgenders in sports. “The thought is transgender female athletes have a higher amount of testosterone which can give them an advantage, but this phenomenon is not limited to just transgender females. It is estimated that 10 percent of the cisgender female population also have an increased amount of testosterone due to a syndrome called a polycystic ovarian syndrome.”(Daily Iowan) This states that some women have increased testosterone that can help them compete. Trans women also have testosterone so if the women with polycystic ovarian syndrome it would be a fair competition. Many transgender females are also on hormone blockers or puberty blockers. “Although our country has come a long way, transgender people still face institutional and legal barriers to enjoying the same rights as their cisgender peers. Having another obstacle for them to face, another way to single them out from everyone else can only do more harm than good.” (Daily Iowan) We do not want to make them feel left out or make them feel like they don't belong. It is important to make sure everyone feels included even if they are different. 

“It turns out that when transgender girls play on girls’ sports teams, cisgender girls can win. The vast majority of female athletes are cisgender, as are the vast majority of winners. There is no epidemic of transgender girls dominating female sports. Attempts to force transgender girls to play on the boys’ teams are unconscionable attacks on already marginalized transgender children, and they don’t address a real problem. They’re unscientific, and they would cause serious mental health damage to both cisgender and transgender youth.” (Scientific American) Transgender athletes are not even particularly that common among athletes so this is fair. They are not dominating so women’s sports aren't in danger. 

Transgenderism is very controversial in today's time and is an issue that hasn't been resolved. This problem is common throughout the United States. Sports need to have people of their biological gender competing in them. If they don't then what's the point of having a men's and women's category? Many people believe transgender women should not be able to compete with biological females.