Last week, Sports Illustrated ran a cover story praising transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. Dubbed “the most controversial athlete in America,” Thomas will be competing at the NCAA Women’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta beginning on March 16 and has the chance to break records previously set by female Olympians Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky. In the interview, Thomas voiced aspirations of swimming in the 2024 Olympic trials in Paris.
You may recall that the NCAA has taken a sport-by-sport approach regarding transgender athletes. USA Swimming released its transgender eligibility guidelines last month, requiring transgender people who seek participation in women’s sports to offer evidence that they do not have a competitive advantage over female athletes and that their testosterone levels have been lower than 5 nanomoles per liter for at least 36 months.
The NCAA has since announced that it will not be adopting this new policy for the upcoming winter championships because making changes at this point in time could have “unfair … impacts on schools and student-athletes.” As a result, Thomas will be allowed to compete.
The Sports Illustrated profile states, “Science allegedly showed” transgender women are physically different from women and refers to the fact that Thomas’s “puberty gave her an advantage over … female competitors” as one of several “arguments.”
Undergoing puberty results in sex differences and an associated physical advantage in men that isn’t overridden by lowering one’s testosterone. Competitive sports are necessarily sex-segregated so that female athletes have an opportunity at winning. Yet any argument demanding fairness has been misrepresented as an attack on transgender athletes. Because activists can’t win the debate with logic, they resort to bullying and intimidation tactics, sowing confusion, and promoting outright lies.
According to them, anyone citing the importance of biological sex or opposing sports inclusion based on self-identification is motivated by a desire to discriminate against transgender people. Conversely, anyone who says they are in support of transgender rights must support transgender women competing in women’s sports without question.
The entire debacle will be a landmark case, setting future precedents in the realm of sports and beyond. Some of Thomas’s teammates have reportedly turned against each other over this issue after the story was anonymously leaked to the media. My message to the many female athletes watching quietly is to stay strong and know that the public will support you, if and when you’re ready to speak out.
Dr. Debra Soh is a sex neuroscientist, the host of The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast, and the author of The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society.
