Dismantling the top 5 myths about trans athletes (Excerpt)

“You ready?” the doctor asked, syringe poised. “Yep,” I replied tentatively. “One, two, three.” He jabbed my right thigh into my muscle. Even though I’d been preparing for this, I’d never had a shot in my leg before. Almost immediately, it felt achy. As that first drop of testosterone hit my bloodstream, I violated the rules of my women’s hockey league and said goodbye to my life as a professional hockey player and my identity as an elite athlete. It hurt.

As a kid, I always played women’s sports. I didn’t think too much about how men and women are divided in athletics. I was celebrated as a woman athlete, and the more I accomplished, the deeper it became interwoven with my own identity, and my place in the world. But as my understanding of my gender identity as a transman began to grow, my identity as an athlete on the women’s side started to conflict with who I knew I was inside. I knew that taking testosteroneis what I wanted and ultimately needed in order for society to view me as a man. It’s important to note that this is my own unique vision for my future. Not all trans people follow this path or feel the need to “pass” as cisgender, and that is valid. But for me, it was vital but not an option for me while I still played women’s hockey.

By 2016, when I was playing professionally with the Buffalo Beauts of the NWHL (National Women’s Hockey League), I was struggling more and more in my double life outside of the rink and felt like I was in limbo waiting for my real life to begin after sports. I didn’t want to hide anymore and came out publicly as a trans man through an ESPN article that went viral. I was still unable to physically transition but a social transition was possible by changing my name and pronouns within the hockey world. But being constantly misgendered and bound by an assigned-female legal name outside of the rink is what prompted me to retire from women’s hockey sooner than I would have if I wasn’t trans. Shortly after I announced my retirement through the New York Times, I knew the time had come and finally mustered up the courage to call my doctor about testosterone and pursuing a medical transition. While it was crucial, and even lifesaving, for me to abandon women’s hockey so I could finally begin to live as my true self, it was still excruciating to have to make that call.

Sports, specifically hockey, saved my life and I truly believe I wouldn’t be here without sports. It was a space for me to gain confidence, friendships, a sense of self, discipline and find pride in what my body could do. For many sports is a place of joy and refuge from the stresses of life and now that is being taken away from a group of people who need it the most, kids who need it the most. .

Today, gender-diverse people, athletes and non-athletes alike, are facing unprecedented threats to their existence. This includes their right to play sports on the team of their choice. The discussion is riddled with misinformation and disinformation that has even captured the attention of those who say they support LGBTQ+ rights. And the worsening struggles of trans athletes is occurring while their access to proper healthcare is being eroded. The sports world has become the newest battleground over the fight for equality.

Here, drawing on my book Let Us Play: Winning the Battle for Gender Diverse Athletes, which I wrote with my sister Rachel Browne who is an investigative journalist, is a takedown of the five myths that permeate the debate over trans athletes:

Trans women and girls are not a threat to women’s sports; nor are they dominating.

Until the recent outcry over trans women’s participation in sports, trans athletes had been participating in sports aligned with their gender identity, from recreational levels to the Olympics, for decades with very little controversy and pushback. Sports regulators and organizations, like the NCAA, had implemented policies to help include trans athletes. It really wasn’t until former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first trans woman to win an NCAA Division I championship title in 2022 that trans athletes became vilified.

But Thomas’ story actually proves that trans women are not a threat to women’s sports and that inclusion policies do work. Thomas won a single race by 1.75 seconds, and came in last in another race. Thomas abided by all the NCAA rules at that time and is a case study for why exclusion is unnecessary. It’s important to keep in mind that these policies were meant to promote fair competition, not to prevent trans athletes from excelling in their sport.

Trans women rarely, if ever, won against their cisgender counterparts. To this day, not a single openly trans woman has won an Olympic medal in the women’s category. It’s abundantly clear that trans women and girls do not, and have never, “dominated” in women’s sports at any level — cisgender women do.

When we get wrapped up over unfounded fears of trans women dominating women’s sports, we easily lose sight of how the vast majority of people who play sports do not aspire to be an elite athlete. Most people play for exercise, community, and joy. Trans women and girls, like all athletes, are motivated by the love of their sport, not a singular desire to win.

1. Sports were never “fair” in the first place

The rallying cry of those who oppose trans women and girls’ participation in women’s sports is that it is not fair. This assumes that sports are, at their core, pure and equal for all. This isn’t the case for any sport, men’s or women’s. If you look at any sports team or event, you’ll see athletes come in different sizes, skill sets, and other varying attributes that contribute to their success and longevity as an athlete. But the biggest and most tangible factor that contributes to an athlete’s ability to excel is their access to financial resources and community support. Hockey, for instance, has numerous barriers to entry, including the cost of the equipment, training and coaching, as well as the time commitments for practices and tournaments. Players who can afford all of this, and have caregivers who can help facilitate it, are automatically at a greater advantage over everyone else. This is a reality for many other sports.

If politicians and advocates really cared about protecting and promoting women’s sports, they’d fight for equal resources for training facilities and equipment, as well as equal pay for professional athletes. They would talk about fairness through the lens of socioeconomic equality. The conversation around trans participation in sports has never been about true fairness, it’s about exclusion and upholding the status quo that favors the gender binary and the wealthy.

1. Biology and hormones do not automatically lead to athletic advantage

First off, all people of all genders have both estrogen and testosterone in their bodies. Hormones are neither female nor male in nature. The degree to which hormone levels, and testosterone-driven puberty, grant competitive advantage has been grossly overstated. Research shows that one’s testosterone levels do not predict superior athletic ability, and to state that one element in the body is the sole contributor to athlete success is untrue. Focusing mainly on biology and hormones overlooks the importance of natural talent, hard work, and access to training resources. Think about it: Tennis star Serena Williams could beat most people who’ve gone through a testosterone-driven puberty. This mentality overlooks the sheer talent and hard work that cisgender women put in to excel at their sport.

There are also some sports, including swimming and long-distance running, where cisgender women have a proven advantage over cisgender men. The reality is that there are many factors that contribute to athletic advantage, ranging from biology to sociology.

1. Exclusion of trans women harms all women, especially cisgender women of color.

The hysteria around trans women participating in sports doesn't just affect trans people it impacts everyone, especially cisgender women and women of color. Gender identity falls along a spectrum—not a binary—and so there’s no one way to define what makes someone a woman. It can be complicated and subjective. So when sports regulators have tried to impose gender testing and verification methods for elite athletes, the result has always led to a rise in the surveillance and policing of women’s bodies, largely carried out by cisgender men. You never see such testing efforts being enforced for men, it’s only ever women. There’s an extremely troubling history of “gender verification exams,” including genital checks of athletes on the women’s side, dating back to the early 20th century. Today, we have seen a resurgence of such archaic and invasive practices being proposed for children and youth. In 2022, politicians in Ohio tried to push for a law that would require genital checks for student athletes suspected to be trans. Though that proposal failed to gain traction, a similar proposal for high school students in Florida is being pursued as of this year.

The idea that women’s sports need saving only reinforces harmful stereotypes that women are weak and helpless. The efforts behind banning trans women from sports in the name of protecting women’s sports makes sports less safe for all.

1. Separate categories for trans and non-binary athletes are not the answer.

Some sports regulators and policymakers around the world have suggested that trans and non-binary athletes could just play in their own separate category, what’s often referred to as an “open category.” On the surface, this might seem like a solution that everyone can get on board with as a way to resolve the tense debates around this topic. However, this would only lead to further discrimination and alienation of gender diverse athletes. We already know there’s a massive discrepancy between men’s and women’s sports when it comes to funding and resources. That discrepancy would be far worse for athletes in this open category. What’s more, trans athletes for the most part are not advocating for a third category like this to be the ultimate solution for all sports.

In 2023, the world governing body for swimming, World Aquatics, launched an open category for the Swimming World Cup in Berlin in response to swimmer Lia Thomas’ NCAA championship title. Exactly zero athletes signed up for this and the category was canceled. If trans people really wanted to participate in the sport just for a medal, wouldn’t it have made sense for at least one of them to enrol in this category to, in all likelihood, win quite easily? At the end of the day most trans people do not want to be seen as “other.” They want to be seen as themselves, and that means participating with athletes who align with their gender identity.

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