Track and field athlete Selina Soule stands on the track, frustrated by her spot taken on the podium by biological men. Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
This story was originally published in the GenZeal feature of LNP on Sunday, December 17, 2023.
By Abigail Hernandez ’24
A Gallup poll in May found that 69% of American adults say that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that correspond with their assigned sex at birth.
Despite this, we see more and more podiums in women’s sports being taken by athletes who were assigned male at birth. Unfortunately, there are still some people who do not see the harm that this issue is causing to women athletes around the world.
To put it simply, those who are assigned male at birth are biologically stronger than those who are assigned female. This is not an issue when men are competing against other men. However, when transgender women compete against women, they have a much greater chance of winning first place.
The science of human anatomy shows that males have more of the hormone testosterone, which helps to increase bone size and bone mass. Females have more of the hormone estrogen, which improves the levels of minerals in the bone to lower the risks of fractures. Having larger bones give males a greater advantage in many different areas, especially in sports.
According to an article on the website BioMed Central, men have more Type 2 muscle fibers. This gives them more power output, bursts of energy and higher twitch speeds. Women have more of the Type 1 muscle fibers, which produce slower twitch speeds. In the area of body mass, women tend to have a higher percentage of fat mass in comparison to men, who tend to have a higher percentage of muscle mass.
Also, men have a greater cardiovascular reserve, which is the difference between the rate at which the heart pumps blood at any time versus its maximum capacity.
All of this adds up to significant biological advantages in sports.
An article on the website of Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian law firm, cites the expertise of Gregory A. Brown of the University of Nebraska. Brown believes that many male athletes who aren’t considered “top tier” would take the spot of some of the world’s most skilled female athletes on the podium if they competed against each other.
“For example, in 2017 alone, well over 5,000 males, including some under 18 years old, ran 400-meter times that were faster than the personal bests of U.S. Olympic gold medalists Sanya Richards-Ross and Allyson Felix,” the Alliance Defending Freedom article states.
This issue is not only affecting Olympic athletes, but it is affecting high school athletes, as well.
Alliance Defending Freedom tells the story of Selina Soule. She is a Connecticut high school sprinter who trained vigorously for her spot on the podium, but unfortunately that spot was essentially stolen from her by two transgender girls, who took first and second place. Soule lost her chance to go to the regional championships, where many college scouts could have seen her potential.
Some people say that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports gives them a sense of belonging, which is valid, because all people deserve to feel included. However, this approach is not fair to women who have trained relentlessly to become amazing at what they do — just to have their spot taken on the podium by someone who was assigned male at birth.
In the end, men will always have an advantage over women in sports. This is why all individuals should stay on the side of sports that corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth. If this is done, sports will be fairer to women all around the world.
Transgender Women shouldn’t Compete in Women’s Sports
This story was originally published in the GenZeal feature of LNP on Sunday, December 17, 2023.
By Abigail Hernandez ’24
A Gallup poll in May found that 69% of American adults say that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that correspond with their assigned sex at birth.
Despite this, we see more and more podiums in women’s sports being taken by athletes who were assigned male at birth. Unfortunately, there are still some people who do not see the harm that this issue is causing to women athletes around the world.
To put it simply, those who are assigned male at birth are biologically stronger than those who are assigned female. This is not an issue when men are competing against other men. However, when transgender women compete against women, they have a much greater chance of winning first place.
The science of human anatomy shows that males have more of the hormone testosterone, which helps to increase bone size and bone mass. Females have more of the hormone estrogen, which improves the levels of minerals in the bone to lower the risks of fractures. Having larger bones give males a greater advantage in many different areas, especially in sports.
According to an article on the website BioMed Central, men have more Type 2 muscle fibers. This gives them more power output, bursts of energy and higher twitch speeds. Women have more of the Type 1 muscle fibers, which produce slower twitch speeds. In the area of body mass, women tend to have a higher percentage of fat mass in comparison to men, who tend to have a higher percentage of muscle mass.
Also, men have a greater cardiovascular reserve, which is the difference between the rate at which the heart pumps blood at any time versus its maximum capacity.
All of this adds up to significant biological advantages in sports.
An article on the website of Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian law firm, cites the expertise of Gregory A. Brown of the University of Nebraska. Brown believes that many male athletes who aren’t considered “top tier” would take the spot of some of the world’s most skilled female athletes on the podium if they competed against each other.
“For example, in 2017 alone, well over 5,000 males, including some under 18 years old, ran 400-meter times that were faster than the personal bests of U.S. Olympic gold medalists Sanya Richards-Ross and Allyson Felix,” the Alliance Defending Freedom article states.
This issue is not only affecting Olympic athletes, but it is affecting high school athletes, as well.
Alliance Defending Freedom tells the story of Selina Soule. She is a Connecticut high school sprinter who trained vigorously for her spot on the podium, but unfortunately that spot was essentially stolen from her by two transgender girls, who took first and second place. Soule lost her chance to go to the regional championships, where many college scouts could have seen her potential.
Some people say that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports gives them a sense of belonging, which is valid, because all people deserve to feel included. However, this approach is not fair to women who have trained relentlessly to become amazing at what they do — just to have their spot taken on the podium by someone who was assigned male at birth.
In the end, men will always have an advantage over women in sports. This is why all individuals should stay on the side of sports that corresponds with the sex they were assigned at birth. If this is done, sports will be fairer to women all around the world.
Sources
https://theconversation.com/both-men-and-women-need-strong-bones-but-their-skeletons-grow-differently-across-ages-75915#:~:text=Testosterone%20–%20the%20major%20sex%20hormone,levels%20of%20mineral%20in%20bone
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/americans-oppose-inclusion-trans-athletes-sports-poll-finds-rcna88940#
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hide-and-seek/201207/the-battle-the-sexes?scrlybrkr=8a6e2eaf#:~:text=Men%20have%20greater%20cardiovascular%20reserve,to%20faster%20healing%20of%20wounds
https://adflegal.org/article/why-male-athletes-who-identify-transgender-should-not-compete-womens-sports
https://www.acefitness.org/continuing-education/prosource/june-2016/5926/battle-of-the-sexes-should-training-guidelines-for-men-and-women-be-the-same/#