Which groups should #TransgenderAthletes be allowed to compete? 

To provide background on what is “transgender”, individuals who are transgender do not identify with the sex and/or gender constructs they were born into. People who are transgender feel a disconnect between their own internal concept of their gender and the gender roles made by their society. For example, someone born male may not feel much, if any, connection to what his culture has defined as being "masculine" and may instead strongly identify with what is typically defined as being "feminine”.

Some transgender people sense of difference is so strong that they identify as transsexual and believe their assigned sex at birth was wrong and that their correct sex is one that aligns with their internal feelings. They often have a deep desire to alter their physical appearance until it better matches their gender identity, including sometimes doing sex reassignment therapy and/or sex reassignment surgery.

The sports debate has strong feelings, particularly whether transgender athletes should be allowed to play in women’s sports. The debate drew national advocates like Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer known for criticizing an NCAA decision allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete in Division I women’s races. Thomas, who was transitioning from male to female and began competing with women after three years racing against men, made history in 2022 by becoming the first transgender person to claim an NCAA Division I title.

Some of the arguments for allowing transgender athletes to play in woman’s sports is that it is only a small amount of athletes, and it is a pretext for bigotry and part of a larger effort to ban transgender people from living their lives. Banning transgender woman would further exclude a small and already vulnerable population.

Some of the arguments against include it can be unfair for biological females to compete against athletes born as biological males, so it erodes the credibility of women’s sports. Biological males on average are physically stronger than biological females in regards to overall height, muscle mass, bone density, tendons, ligaments, and more. Some suggest that there should be a separate category for transgender athletes, or they can compete in groups with their original biological sex.

The question for debate, should transgender athletes be allowed to compete in sports with non-trans athletes of the same gender identity?