While Pride 2021 comes to an end and the world prepares for the biggest global sports competition, the Olympics, the battle for our trans family rages on. In the last few months, laws banning trans kids and adults from playing athletics has crashed over the nation like a phobic tidal wave, though the epicenter of its genesis has yet to be found. In spite of the lack of scientific evidence supporting these widely accepted beliefs, the residue of an anti-science, anti-LGBT+, anti-common sense presidential administration dusts the shoulders of state lawmakers and they have waged a war on the contents of trans people’s pants.
On the heels of a disastrous year filled with death, racism,
a tumultuous and stressful election, and a wavering economy came the surge of
conservative lawmakers taking on the battle of trans children in school sports.
Following suit came policies aimed at college levels and even some challenges
to the Olympic policies in place. As it currently stands, eight states including
South Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Montana, Alabama,
and Florida have passed some version of a trans athlete ban in answer to a question
that hadn’t even been asked. Many of these states have little to no record of
trans athletes attempting to play school sports with their identified genders;
there was no big bang moment, no looming threat, no catalyst that moved their
hands in signing these bills. More than likely, as is the way of most politicians,
it was a distraction to divert attention from other issues, say perhaps unfettered
mass shootings, failed attempts to challenge the election and overthrowing Congress,
abuses against black and latinx people alike, but this distraction is unbelievably
detrimental to the trans community, and steeped in lies.
The LGBT+ community historically has grappled with higher
levels of mental illness and suicidal ideation, and the trans community makes
up a much larger portion, with nearly 10 times the rate (approximately 41%) of
suicide attempts of non-trans individuals. Twenty to 30% of the LGBT+ community
abuses substances as a form of self-medication compared to 9% of non-LGBT+
individuals, and nearly half the trans population struggles with depression. While
all these issues may stem from different root causes for each individual, one
could easily argue that these roots intertwine to form the web of societal failings:
lack of support from family, friends, and their community, religious
ostracization, lack of access to proper care, overall exclusion, hate crimes,
etc. In short, every moment of a trans’ person’s life where they feel different,
rejected, judged, abnormal, less than, unworthy, inhuman are moments that could
inevitably lead to crippling despair and even death.
It can be difficult to wrap our heads around the ignorance,
the fear, the hatred that surrounds people just trying to live their own lives,
but the reality of the world is that hate is parasitic and eternal. It doesn’t
evolve, it doesn’t slow, it doesn’t grow smaller, it simply moves from one host
to another until some superficial enlightenment forces it out of its cozy niche,
then it finds a new ill-fated pariah to leech off of. We’ve jumped from races
and ethnic groups, economic casts, nationalities, genders, colorism, people
with disabilities, sizeism, ageism, religion, and ultimately sexual orientation.
While no one can argue that these groups are now free of hate, it has lessened even
marginally with them over time as acceptance has grown. Unfortunately in the
ebb and flow of its current, hate’s latest target happens to be trans people. And
it’s hitting them hard.
Though the focus of this piece lands on athletics, the scope
of the attack on trans people hasn’t narrowed to sports. Previously, laws were
introduced to stop trans people from using their appropriate bathrooms. Other
recent laws have been proposed to deny gender affirming treatments to trans
people, including hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and gender reassignment
surgery. Some protective laws have been put in place to require school staff to
address children by their identified names and pronouns and allow them to use
appropriate restrooms and locker rooms. But even as recent this week, a school
board meeting discussing trans protective policies erupted into chaos in Virginia
as ignorant parents, falling victim to lies, propaganda, and disinformation
fought against the well-being and safety of these children. As former state
senator Dick Black said, “it is absurd and immoral for teachers to call boys
girls and girls boys. You’re making teachers lie to students.” It’s ironic that
individuals so concerned with telling the truth use misguiding rhetoric and bald-faced
lies to push their own agendas. Cries of perversion, claims that bathrooms and
locker rooms will be infiltrated by perverts who pretend to be whatever gender
on a whim just to sneak a peek at innocent patrons, confused individuals who
don’t know what they want and therefore shouldn’t have access to affirming
procedures because they’ll just change their minds later and regret it. Even
claims that allowing our children to be whomever they are is just plain child
abuse. And as sensationalism goes, the bigots eat it up, regarding the science
as a liberal fairy tale. And such is the case with sports.
In hasty judgments that we all sometimes fall victim to, it’s
easy to jump to baseless conclusions that seem common sense but really have no
scientific backing. It’s easy to assume that a woman who was born a biological male
would hold a sexually dimorphic advantage over their cisgender female competitors.
It’s easy to worry that the playing field would no longer be level with trans
women who are typically biologically stronger and faster. It’s easy, but it’s
untrue. Though studies specifically on trans athletes are still fairly new by
scientific standards, those that have already been conducted have consistently
found that pre-pubescent trans children playing sports have absolutely no
advantage, as the onset of puberty has yet to take any considerably hold on
their physique or abilities. Additionally, post-pubescent and adult trans
individuals who take hormone blockers/hormone replacement therapy have shown no
biological advantage after one to two years of consistent treatment; instead
they experienced a lessening of muscle, stamina, and bone density, placing them
physically on par with cisgender female athletes and making for fair play.
The International Olympic Committee recognized these facts as
presented by the scientific community and first made provisions to allow trans
athletes to compete in 2004. At the time they established three requirements to
ensure the status of trans athletes: 1) They must have had full gender
reassignment surgeries, 2) They must be legally recognized in their country as
their identified gender, and 3) They must have been under the treatment of HRTs
for approximately 2 years. They revised these requirements in 2015 for many logistical
reasons. Requiring healthy individuals to undergo risky surgeries proved
unethical, especially when many trans and non-binary people choose to retain
their biological genitalia. They also found that in many conservative countries,
being legally recognized as one’s identified gender is unlikely. The
requirements as they stand now is that an individual must maintain their
identified gender for four years and they must be on HRTs for at least one
year, with appropriately maintained testosterone levels (all restrictions apply
solely to male to female transgender athletes. Female to male athletes have no limitations).
Though the adult world and some professional sports circles
have adjusted and made allowances for these athletes’ existence and abilities, children
and adolescents continue to fight for the right to play. The bridge between
childhood sports and competing in the professional realm is all but blocked for
kids who can’t play where they belong, who feel out of place and awkward. As such,
they are less likely to pursue these activities that could provide them the self-esteem,
the self-worth, the societal affirmation they require to avoid the statistics
of mental illnesses, substance abuse, and suicide attempts that lie ahead. However
school boards continue to fight to protect the delicate sensibilities of the
privileged white, cisgender, heterosexual, Christian children under their
charge, sacrificing the minority yet again, their lives be damned.
As a gay, biracial woman, I know firsthand the struggles
that come with various degrees of minority status and intersectionality, and
feel the pain of others facing the same. Sadly, I encountered many other minorities
who fell into ranks in the attack on our trans family, people who undoubtedly have
been victims of discrimination themselves, but saw no fault with reciprocating
the hate to others. One black cisgender lesbian argued to me on a gay Facebook
page that she is a professional boxer and she absolutely could not fathom
having to spar with a man, therefore trans women should not be allowed in
sports. Even after presenting empirical evidence, many other LGBT+ people in this
thread disregarded the science and doubled down in their ignorance. It was
altogether frustrating and heartbreaking that there are so many battles science
can’t win, even in our own circles. As the world progresses and breakwaters
slowly build to protect our various social groups, it is our responsibility to
protect others who are still out in open water.
Every proposal, every bill, every law signed into place is
screaming in the faces of trans people you are not right. You are not okay. You
are not normal. You are not human. And you don’t deserve to be treated as such.
It’s time we found our voices and screamed love even louder.
Good luck to all athletes in the Tokyo Olympics.
Special shout out to my Sports Wife, Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the USWNT team. LFG.
