In Gallup’s 2023 survey, 26% of Americans believe trans athletes can play with teams matching their identity, while 69% believe they should play on teams that match their biological sex. Photo courtesy of Morning Consult.
DOROTHY LAKSHMANAMURTHY | STAFF REPORTER | dlakshmanamurthy@butler.edu
While striving to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament this season, San Jose State University’s volleyball team faces a unique challenge: finding teams willing to compete against it. When the University of Nevada called off its match against the Spartans on Oct. 26, four other teams had previously canceled games against the team in response to media reports of a transgender woman on San Jose State’s roster.
The Spartans’ situation has gained media attention and reignited the recurring debate of whether allowing trans athletes — particularly trans women — to play with their identified gender creates an unequal playing field or not.
Former President Donald Trump has honed in on this issue as a key part of his campaign, often inviting former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines to speak on behalf of his stance at rallies. Trump stands for banning trans women from playing in the women’s sports category due to the argument of biological advantages in physicality.
Vice President Kamala Harris has not explicitly spoken on this issue but was a part of the Biden administration’s Title IX changes that aimed to expand LGBTQ+ protections. These changes originally included forbidding bans on trans athletes in sports, but the administration held off on including that matter.
When evaluating each candidate’s viewpoints, first-year acting major Phinn Bitza recognized flaws on both sides but ultimately found Harris’ agenda to better align with his own perspective and identity as a trans man.
“The hardest part for me is that one candidate, Harris, is very good at tiptoeing around answers, while the other, Trump, doesn’t even view me as a human,” Bitza said. “Harris seems to be more accepting and views the issue of trans athletes as more of a discussion to be had. I believe a discussion is better than exiling trans athletes completely.”
Since 2020, 23 states have passed laws regarding trans athletes — with 18 of those states only banning trans women from women’s school sports, and the other five banning all trans athletes from school sports.
For junior finance major Brendan Byce, enforcing bans on trans women fits with his value of equitable environments in sports — an idea he finds rooted within the foundation of the sports system.
“This is why we have categories for men’s and women’s sports in the first place,” Byce said. “It is for the very reason that we recognize the physical advantages males statistically have over females. Obviously, we should respect all people, but it is also important to protect the integrity and hard work of athletes who should be able to compete with fair conditions.”
The House of Representatives also made an effort to address this issue when they passed the Protection of Women and Girls Act of 2023 — a bill declaring that allowing biologically male athletes to compete in women’s sports is a Title IX violation. This bill did not advance past the House’s vote.
With the various provisions and discussions surrounding Title IX in the past decade, Title IX coordinator Azure Swinford foresees the election’s results greatly influencing future changes that can impact trans athletes.
“That’s why I believe it’s important to vote and voice your opinion, especially if you feel strongly about this issue,” Swinford said. “It is such an important topic, and it can get complicated with transgender athletes and their teams to navigate playing at away games with the different laws the states have on this issue — whether they can play or not, locker room use, and other misunderstandings, bias or discrimination that can occur.”
Over 1,000 colleges — including Butler — follow the NCAA’s current policy for trans athletes, which aligns with the International Olympic Committee’s policy. The policy states that participation eligibility is determined by the governing body of the specific sport. However, most trans athletes, and almost always trans women athletes, are required to document “sport-specific” testosterone levels at the beginning and six months into the season. Additional documentation needs to be provided four weeks before championship selections.
Boxers Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif sparked controversy during the 2024 Paris Olympics because of their participation eligibility. The boxers were assigned female at birth — as stated on their passports — but faced accusations due to an unspecified eligibility test that they failed for the International Boxing Association (IBA) the previous year. The IBA stated that their tests indicated “competitive advantages over other female competitors.”
Bitza uses this situation in his defense for what he believes to be the best end goal: gender-neutral sports. He believes that competitive advantages are not connected to gender and refers to the Battle of the Sexes — a 1973 tennis match where women’s tennis player Billie Jean King won against men’s tennis player Bobby Riggs.
“Battle of the Sexes shows us that we cannot compare an athlete by sex or gender,” Bitza said. “With a gender-neutral solution, we can pair competitors — no matter the gender — based on weight, height, and hormone levels. We have to recognize that it is not necessarily sex or gender that creates physical strengths. Look at Michael Phelps; no one is telling him that he cannot compete even though he is a medical anomaly gifted with the perfect swimmer body.”
However, former NCAA swimmer Lia Thomas has become a chief example for those who argue that physical advantages between men and women prevail, even with trans athletes’ hormone treatments and gender-affirming procedures.
Before transitioning, Thomas was a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s swimming team for three seasons where she ranked 65th in the 500-yard freestyle. When she met the NCAA’s documentation requirements for her hormone levels, Thomas joined the women’s swimming team for two seasons, but only actively competed in one due to COVID-19 cancellations. In her season with the women’s team, she won the championship title for the 500-yard freestyle.
When comparing Thomas’ rankings on the men’s team versus the women’s team, Victoria Yaklin, a junior international business and finance double major, deems that the differences reveal an injustice to women’s sports.
“Women fought a long time to have equal rights and fair opportunities to compete, and now they are being put at risk,” Yaklin said. “They are losing chances to gain titles and break records due to [other people’s] biological advantages they are being met with. Women’s sports need to be protected, and it will take a lot of effort and bipartisanship to come up with a balanced solution that tackles the evident injustices that female athletes feel and the injustices that trans athletes feel.”
On both ends of the debate, athletes are joining together to speak about what they believe is the proper solution.
Gaines, alongside other college swimmers, filed a lawsuit in March against the NCAA. The lawsuit argues Thomas’ participation as a Title IX violation and documents physical inequality and locker room concerns. One of these concerns stemmed from Gaines and Thomas tying for fifth place in the 200-yard final at the 2022 NCAA national championship, but Thomas was handed the trophy — not Gaines — because there was only one trophy available.
Meanwhile, more than 400 Olympic and college athletes sent letters to the NCAA in April encouraging them not to ban trans women athletes. Notable letter contributors included former WNBA player Sue Bird and former NFL player Ryan Russell.
When coming up with a balanced solution, Director of Student Advocacy Jules Grable recognizes the immense amount of effort and time that needs to be exerted.
“It is an incredibly complex issue that requires a lot of sitting down and talking,” Grable said. “A sports schedule doesn’t usually allow that time with a constant agenda of going to practices, games, and championships. But this issue will require intentional time to make sure every single perspective is shared and heard to humanize everyone. It is not going to be a quick fix, but the ongoing conversation is worthwhile.”
