Written by One of the most commonly expressed objections to the inclusion of trans athletes is that it is fundamentally unfair, particularly to cis women and girls, to compete against trans women and girls. While this cultural belief may be ubiquitous, the science behind it is far from black and white. Without any substantive, multi-sport studies that include trans youth, much of the “evidence” of unfair advantage is merely inferred from other studies of biological difference. But with so much on the line for an already-marginalized community, we should be wary when anyone tries to justify exclusion solely on loose correlations between sex and strength and sport performance. As I highlighted in Episode 3, this same type of unconsciously biased thinking kept women and girls out of sports and diminished the accomplishments of black athletes. In this week’s episode, I dig into the “science” of unfair advantage in athletics and explore some of the other non-biological advantages in interscholastic sports that exist unchallenged with a diverse panel of guests.
