By Paul Washington, Attending The College of Wooster.
Do you think that transgender athletes should be able to compete professionally as their personally
identified gender? Some people believe transgender athletes should be able to, and some argue that it’s unfair to those competing as their birth-assigned gender.
Transgender athletes have competed and shaken things up by opening doors for other trans athletes. In the article “Trans Athletes Are Posting Victories and Shaking Up Sports,” Christie Aschwanden reports: “Transgender athletes are having a moment. At all levels of sport, they’re stepping onto the podium and into the headlines.
New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard won two gold medals at the Pacific Games, and college senior CeCé Telfer became the NCAA Division II national champion in the 400-meter run.” So, it’s clear that trans athletes are having an impact on sports in which they compete as their reassigned gender.
Some people believe transgender athletes should be able to compete professionally for equality purposes and because there are medicines and surgeries to ensure fairness. Others believe they shouldn’t because they may have significant physical advantages. “How many of those [physical] differences can be neutralized when a male athlete medically transitions to female,” asks Rachel Stark-Mason in the NCAA Championship Magazine.
My view is that transgender athletes should not be able to compete professionally because there are
disadvantages to other athletes. The advantages transgenders may have post-surgery are things like
strength, hormones, muscle mass and skeletal structure. In an article, Bloche elaborates, “People who
are physically male at birth have myriad advantages in the playing field…difference in muscle mass,
skeletal structure, and hormonal biology pursuit after medical and surgical gender transition.”
In another article, Bloche argues: “They shouldn’t be treated as “talent” or a “gift” or lack thereof, and which should be seen as “cheating” or “unsportsmanlike.” This is also another example of why transgenders should not be able to compete professionally: it’s not fair to the people who are still their assigned gender.
Certain sports were designed for certain genders, muscle masses, and strength levels. The strength of men doesn’t belong in women’s sports, and the strength of women doesn’t belong in men’s sports. In “Girls sue to block participation transgender athletes” Pat Eaton-Robb, argues, “All girls deserve the chance to compete on a level playing field,” which raises a question of strength inequity if, say, a transgender athlete plays against their birth-gender assigned peers.”
On the website Sports Scientists, Ross states that “transgender females don’t always lower their testosterone levels to make it a fair advantage” and “they often times pretend and act as if they fit in.” In the article “Cost of Sex Reassignment Surgery Cost,” a surgeon states: “The surgery cost between $15,000 and $25,000 just to reconstruct the genitals, and $50,000 for upper body parts to be surgically removed and added back.” Might trying to cover these costs be a reason trans athletes feel the need to compete professionally?
While the answer to that question is unclear, it seems to me that, at the moment, the disadvantages to gender-birth-assigned athletes tip the scale in favor of not having trans athletes compete professionally as their reassigned gender.
