In your podcast episode with Charlie Kirk, you expressed that trans youth participating in sports was “unfair.” It is crucial that you are informed by scientific facts and common sense values when discussing trans issues.
Here are four facts on trans youth in sports summarized by Chase Strangio and Gabriel Arkles. These statements are informed by LGBTQIA+ leaders, sports experts, and medical professionals.
1. Including trans athletes will benefit everyone. Excluding women who are trans hurts all women. It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being “too masculine” or “too good” at their sport to be a “real” woman. In Idaho, the ACLU represents two young women, one trans and one cis, both of whom are hurt by the law that was passed targeting trans athletes. Further, this myth reinforces stereotypes that women are weak and in need of protection. Dr. Mary Fry adds that youth derive the most benefits from athletics when they are exposed to caring environments where teammates are supported by each other and by coaches.
2. Trans athletes do not have an unfair advantage in sports. Trans athletes vary in athletic ability just like cisgender athletes. "A person’s genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance,”according to Dr. Joshua D. Safer. “For a trans woman athlete who meets NCAA standards, “there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a non-transgender woman.”
3. Trans girls are girls. “A person’s sex is made up of multiple biological characteristics and they may not all align as typically male or female in a given person,” says Dr. Safer. Further, many people who are not trans can have hormones levels outside of the range considered typical of a cis person of their assigned sex. When a person does not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth, they must be able to transition socially — and that includes participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
4. Trans people belong on the same teams as other students. “For the past nine years,” explains longtime coach and sports policy expert Helen Carroll, “transgender athletes have been able to compete on teams at NCAA member collegiates and universities consistent with their gender identity like all other student-athletes with no disruption to women’s collegiate sports.”
You’ve talked about listening to the experts about other issues. I urge you to do the same regarding trans youth, who are among our most targeted and marginalized populations, and who have become a political distraction from focusing on achieving actual equity and fairness.
As your constituent, I am asking for a reply with your current stance on trans rights. I also urge you to prevent misinformation and harm on your podcast and as our governor.
