Transgender Athletes - An Unfair Advantage?

I respect trans people, but we can't ignore the impact that their hormones may have on their performance in athletic competitions.

Although there have been many scandals in the past where trans athletes, almost always male to female trans people, have excelled in competition against cisgender females.

(A few notes on terms for those unfamiliar with transgender people/issues:

Trans, or transgender, refers to people who do not psychologically have the same gender identity that people with their physical bodies normally have. They may feel that they were born in the wrong body. For example, somebody who feels that they are a man, but was born in a woman's body.

Cis, or cisgender, refers to people who are not transgender. In other words the vast majority of people

mtf, or male to female, means people born with male bodies and who were determined to be male at birth, but later identified as transgender and transitioned to being a woman.

ftm, or female to male, is the same as mtf but in reverse)

Let me start by defending transgender people in general. Psychologists and neuroscientists have done decades of research that has resulted in evidence showing that transgender people generally have hormones and brain structures that resemble those of the average person of the gender they identify with. So there is a genuine scientific basis to support their identity. Psychologists have consistently found that affirming their identity, and helping them deal with any resulting dysphoria is the best thing for them. Certainly shaming does nothing to help. So I respect their pronouns and such. If they want to take hormones or undergo surgery to physically match how they identify, good for them

However, biological realities still exist, and most trans people would not deny them. Somebody who lived in a male body until they were 15, then began to transition, would have still had significant male hormones like testosterone flowing through their bodies. Those hormones help build mussel mass, which in turn helps athletic ability in most sports. This leads to an unfair advantage against people who have been female their entire lives in those sports. Let's look at the example of a ftm man who competed in wrestling.

Above is Mack Beggs, a transgender man who wanted to compete in men's wrestling, but was barred from doing so by Texas state law. Despite being on male hormones to transition, he was still made to compete against women. Unsurprisingly, in a sport like wrestling, he excelled immediately. Eventually, he dominated all of his female competition. Keep in mind, he didn't want this. He wanted to compete against men, which would have been much more fair.

Most recently, a duo of transgender (mtf) track stars in Connecticut have been dominating their female competition. This has led to a decent amount of controversy from parents demanding that they not be allowed to compete against cisgender women.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/06/15/parents-petition-policy-change-after-transgender-athletes-dominate-high-school-track-meet

I have to say, I agree with those parents. It is no coincidence that transgender athletes end up dominating cisgender female competition consistently. Some have tried to point out that, just by chance, some trans athletes will end up being great. That is true, but these athletes nearly always dominate their competition. This is way beyond random chance - it is clear that hormones, whether being taken in the present or simply present with them from birth, are having an impact and giving these people an unfair advantage.

Interestingly, it is almost always against the rules for athletes to take testosterone or other male hormones, unless they are transgender, because it confers such an advantage.

This issue also isn't petty - these kids are playing for scholarships. That means the ability to go to college for many of them. This seriously impacts some people's lives.

The solution is to allow ftm people to compete with males if they want, but for mtf people it is more complicated. I want there to be a way for them to compete, but I think it either has to be against males, in sports leagues that are open to people regardless of gender, or in their own league. I wish there were a neater solution, but I just feel nothing else is really fair.