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Research Study Reference:
Hilton, E. N., & Lundberg, T. R. (2021). Transgender Women in the Female Category of Sport: Perspectives on Testosterone Suppression and Performance Advantage. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 51(2), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01389-3
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7846503/
Let’s, in the most respectful way possible, dive into the dicey subject of competing in sports as a transgender female. Instead of purely giving you my opinion, you’ll find this video unique because I’m going to back this up for you with legitimate research publications and scientific literature.
Why am I going to inform you about all of this?
Well, I’m in the LGBT community, gay, a doctor, and I’m definitely a trans ally. I think that this combination allows me to kindly inform you about this topic from an evidence-based approach that allows us to walk in the light of the truth. We can look at what science says and also be polite about the subject, how there are natural biological differences between transgender and cisgender women.
There’s a very important distinction in the types of events we talk about, that are vastly different:
1. There are transgender women who play sports in non-competitive settings, like a local intramural soccer team for example
Vs
2. A legitimately competitive event where there is a high value based upon how you place. Examples include a high school state championship where scholarships are on the line, a college NCAA tournament, or an Olympic trial competition
It’s a real thing, There are cisgender women who consistently show up to their high school state championship and lose first place to a transgender female.
Diving into the science, starting from the beginning, a fetus with XY chromosomes produces and is exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the womb. Right off the bat, there is a biological difference. Interestingly enough, studies show that before puberty, the natural athletic abilities between boys and girls are relatively similar.
During puberty, testosterone levels multiply 20-fold and are in concentrations 15-times higher than females.
Testosterone crates many changes In the male adolescent body—ones that you may associate are typically the changes you see in puberty, like deepening of the voice and growth of body hair.
Testosterone also influences many other roles behind the scenes that give physical athletic advantages. These Roles include regulating bone mass, fat distribution, muscle mass, and red blood cell production.
Attributes like larger skeletal structures, larger muscles, increased cardiovascular and respiratory functions, as well as higher power to weight ratios give biologically cisgender males natural athletic advantages. This is present amongst both elite and non-elite calibers.
That’s not to say that their are incredible female athletes, there absolutely are. We know of many. There is probably a female athletes that could kick my butt every sport across the board.
But when we compare males to females in similar calibers, like amateurs vs amateurs, and superstars vs superstars, males naturally have an athletic edge based on their development.
Studies show that after a year of testosterone suppression, there is a certain degree of advantages that are lost, like slightly less thigh muscle mass than before.
But overall, there are also many biophysiological differences that do not go away when a transgender woman has settled into her transition.
For example, transgender females who went through puberty as a male exposed to high levels of testosterone still have skeletal bone sizes and densities that provide an athletic edge.
Studies show that transitioned transgender women on average still have 25% more grip strength.
Other aspects like taller heights, as well as longer limb lengths and hand span, provide a natural advantage.
This study came out with a very interesting conclusion that the number of general advantages that transgender women have actually varied by sport.
In my opinion, pointing this out isn’t transphobic. Ignoring this is cisgender female-phobic. Ignoring it is stripping away cis females’ opportunities to succeed.
Each sport should make up its own rules about transgender women competing, because, every sport is different. There are some sports where transgender females have much more of an advantage than in other sports, like weightlifting for example. You have much more of a competitive edge if you have been exposed to testosterone growing up.
This is important because cisgender females deserve a fair playing ground just as much as transgender women deserve their rights to co-exist and integrate peacefully in society.