Another Sport Bans Transgender Athletes from Competing Against Biological Females

As pushback grows against allowing biological males to compete against biological females, another sport has decided to say no.

Women protest as Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas competes in the women's 200 freestyle final at the NCAA swimming and diving championships at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on March 18, 2022. John Bazemore/AP Photo

As pushback grows against allowing biological males to compete against biological females, another sport has decided to say no.

On Aug. 3, British Rowing announced that beginning Sept. 11, transgender athletes will be banned from participating in the women’s category.

Trans athletes will, however, be allowed to compete in mixed category races, “providing 50 percent of crew are eligible from the women’s category,” and in a new open category.

“British Rowing is committed to promoting an environment in which rowing is accessible and inclusive and to ensuring that we provide opportunities and enjoyment for everyone,” the statement reads. “In order to achieve this in a fair manner, we need to establish conditions for competition that guarantee fair and meaningful competition by placing necessary and proportionate restrictions on eligibility.”

On May 23, British Cycling announced a similar policy change.

There have been other restrictions imposed on biological males who want to compete against biological females in sports.

New Policy for Swimming

In June 2022, the International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced its new policy on eligibility for the men’s and women’s competition categories (pdf).

In the 24-page policy, FINA explained that a science group “comprised of independent experts in the fields of physiology, endocrinology, and human performance, including specialists in sex differences in human performance and in transgender medicine,” was tasked with examining “the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on (1) the impact of biological sex on athletic performance, and (2) the impact of gender-affirming medical transition on factors that influence athletic performance and to produce a report setting out their findings.”

In its report, the group concluded that “biological sex is a key determinant of athletic performance, with males outperforming females in sports (including Aquatics sports) that are primarily determined by neuromuscular, cardiovascular, and respiratory function, and anthropometrics including body and limb size.”

FINA decided that the only way biological males would be allowed to compete against biological females will be if they haven’t “experienced any part of male puberty beyond tanner stage 2, or before age 12, whichever is later.”

Biological males who do not meet the new standards will only be permitted to compete “in a new open category.”

The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) recently lamented how many “anti-LGBTQ activists and politicians have introduced—and passed—laws to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports, most frequently in K–12 schools but sometimes including in college.”

So far, 22 states have passed state laws prohibiting biological males from competing in school sports programs against biological females.

“These laws mean that transgender girls, for example, would not be allowed to participate in sports with other girls,” they explained, labeling the policies as “both unnecessary and harmful.”

In March, the World Athletics Council (WAC) banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events.

The governing body’s president, Sebastian Coe, said his decision was “guided by the overarching principle which is to protect the female category.”

“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” said Mr. Coe.

Some Trans Athletes Agree

Caitlyn Jenner, one of the world’s most well-known transgender women, opposes allowing trans females to compete against biological females in school sports.

“It’s a question of fairness,” Mr. Jenner said in an impromptu parking lot interview with TMZ in May 2021. “That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girl’s sports in school. It just isn’t fair, and we have to protect girls’ sports in our schools.”

Na Hwa-rin, a 37-year-old transgender cyclist who won medals at this year’s Gangwon Sports Festival in South Korea, also believes it isn’t fair for trans athletes to compete against biological females and that there should be a separate category for trans athletes.

“Trans woman athletes, no matter how hard they worked, will never be truly honored for their wins," Mr. Na told The Korea Times in July. “Honor is the goal that all athletes aspire to attain, but this is a situation where nobody will be honored. I think that shouldn’t happen.”

During a June 19, 2022, interview with Time magazine, U.S. National Soccer Team player and LGBT activist Megan Rapinoe said she is “100 percent supportive of trans inclusion,” insisting that excluding biological males from competition against biological females is “cruel” and “just disgusting.”

“God forbid a trans person be successful in sports,” she said. “Get a grip on reality and take a step back.”

Biological sex is determined by genetics. The male sex chromosome is a Y and the female sex chromosome is an X. Males are born with an X and a Y chromosome, while females are born with two X chromosomes.

On April 20, the House of Representatives passed a resolution along party lines to bar transgender women and girls, who are biological males, from participating in programs designated for female athletes.

In an April 17 statement, the White House had already claimed the measure “targets people for who they are and therefore is discriminatory,” vowing that if the bill “made its way to his desk,” President Joe Biden “would veto it.”