Why is There a Debate in the USA Over Who Can Play Women’s Sports

“The testosterone level of a person’s body is not a unified and fair way to measure an athlete’s performance compared to others.”

The war of words over transgender people’ athletes, especially in girls’ and women’s sports, have become a senatorial flashpoint across as states have been banning them from competition that has been meeting menaces from bodies like National Collegiate Athletic Association to relocate.

Republican legislators in almost three-fourth of US states have been the legislation to introduce new laws which typically aim transgender women/girls to be allowed to play sports for teams in their school and university. This has created a hot issue.

How many states have passed laws banning transgender people from sports?

Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas have passed state laws in the year 2021 to prohibit transgender women/girls from participating in women’s sports. At the same time, the state of Idaho banned it last year. States of Minnesota, Chicago, and Montana are on their way to converting bills into laws to ban the same. South Dakota’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem has issued executive orders which will soon ban trans women from participating in sports.

The bans which typically aim at preventing trans women/girls from participating in sports are mainly at the school and university level.

Why do people in the USA support such a ban?

An additional 16 states have, however, passed laws or rules that allow transgender athletes to compete in sports under certain conditions, according to transathelte.com, which tracks athletics policies worldwide.

People who have constantly been defending and backing up this ban suggest that allowing transgender women/girls to participate in sports would be too bad for women’s sports because athletes who were born and have gone through puberty as males will indeed have an additional biological advantage over other women.

Didn’t President Biden put a check on such laws?

People who advocate transgender rights claim that such athletes pose a slight threat to others. According to the most recent data collected in the year 2019 on the gay and lesbian alliance against defamation, almost about 3% of the population of America identify as transgender between the age of 18–32. This means that 8.5 million people who played in high school sports during the year 2019–2020 were transgender.

The fairness in the women’s sports act also allows an examination of a person’s genitals if an athlete’s performance is called into question. Such a practice has been widely termed as unnecessary and invasive.

It is the very law of the State that all presidents sign when they take an oath to be the President. Among all the other presidents, Joe Biden also took an oath that does not allow any kind of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, especially in federally funded schools in the state of America. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” the order stated, according to a report in The Guardian.

However, what he has claimed does not sound strong enough and requires serious implementation.

Specific arguments for and against the motion

How are transgender women athletes performing?

Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood from Connecticut are among the most known trans women athletes. They are known to have dominated high school sports activities for almost two years now. To the extent that Chelsea Mitchell of Canton High School filed a lawsuit to ban trans women from participating in sports competitions.

Rules for participating in international sports?

Connecticut is one of the American states known to be promoting trans women to participate in women’s sports competitions.

Also, according to an associated press report, a large number of legislators who have made an introduction of bills which demand a ban on transgender people from performing in sports activities have failed to give instances of such athletes doing well in sports.

It is simple; those who are rooting and supporting the ban say that it is fair for women sports athletes as it helps in maintaining an adequate level of the playfield for them.
As per a poll results called the POLITICO/Morning Consult, as much as fifty-nine per cent of men are in support of the idea. In contrast, forty-eight per cent of women supported it, and the other 36 per cent were in denial of supporting such a thing.

Although, most experts claim that a high level of testosterone does not always lead to an excelling performance. They say that there are times when individuals with lower testosterone levels perform better. The testosterone level of a person’s body is not a unified and fair way to measure an athlete’s performance compared to others.

The international Olympic committee rules require that a male who has transformed to a female will need to show a report stating that his testosterone level in serum is below 10nanomoles per/lit for at least a year before their very first competition. Along with this, the testosterone level shall remain in control as prescribed above throughout eligibility to compete in the female category of sports.

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