Should Trans Women Athletes Be Allowed to Compete Against Biological Women?

Should transgender athletes be allowed to compete with those of the gender they identify with or must they only compete with athletes who share the gender they were assigned at birth? Are laws that ban transgender women from participating in women's sports fair? LGBTQ+ activists have described criteria limiting transgender athlete involvement in gendered sports as "discriminatory.” Lia Thomas made headline news and stirred debate when she competed in swimming nationals as a transgender woman. Dr. Phil, along with Layne Ingram, a transgender man and basketball coach, and Olympic swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an advocate for girls and women in sports and CEO of Champion Women, discuss what they believe is right and fair. Then, Riley Gaines, who competed against Lia Thomas, gives her perspective on how she felt after their race. The big question is: what does the science say? Harvard professor Dr. Carole Hooven breaks it down. (21005)

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[jjones]

It shouldn’t even be a question. No. They are biological males & taking female hormones doesn’t undo male puberty. It’s not fair

[andyharshman]

No, there's several things that don't change when you transition. Your bone structure doesn't change.

[ebonyneal]

I actually agree with her because Just because you change your outside, doesn’t mean your biological makeup will change. That’s why they have MALE and FEMALE sports.

[dorisc.]

I think their own sports should be created for them
There should be trans sports where they can all compete amongst themselves

[Kaltar_]

alot of women are 6'4 apperantly we heard it here. now how many women have you seen in your entire life that are over 6 feet? compared to men anyway.

[golfncrypto]

The culture war is changing and the side of common sense is once again winning. Give these dudes their own division so the real women can compete with each other

[SadAcorn]

Can you seriously get more anti-women that making us compete against men? Once again here we are catering to men’s feelings. No matter how hard you work as a woman, a man can now take what’s rightfully yours and even get an award for it! I’m so scared for this country

[kimali]

No they should have their own leagues and compete against each other. It would be fair for all

[kendall_knows_best]

Why is this still a thing, both men and women have spoken and its a clear no.

[milonco]

Should adults compete against children if they identify as younger?

[AshleyMarieMommy]

I’d say coming in 200 and something place competing against men, then putting a dress on and running against women and taking 1st place says enough. I don’t remember who or their name but there was one a couple years ago.

[anniewallace]

My concern is their choice to transition is very suspicious to me. I have seen some men not doing well in their area but then they 'transition' and now they are breaking world records. It's physically unfair and really suspicious. They should be allowed to compete as a woman in mixed gender competitions where people choose to compete knowing the different advantages players might have but to allow them in female competitions undermine the hard work woman have done.

[armyjesus]

This is SO ridiculous. Lord Jesus, come quickly.

[blurdreamer]

the fact this need a discussion is problematic.

[riac]

Neither one of these people have a medical background. If they both did, there would not be a debate. At least Nancy is using science in her argument, Layne is just speaking from emotion.

[milkshakemuncher]

Even forgetting bone structure, the muscle build up is very different between men and women who train the same amount, and like the lady said, air intake is 40% larger than a womans, which it too is a big advantage.

Even when a male transitioning has reduced their natural testosterone levels and becomes equivalent hormones to what they consider a female to have, the larger muscle mass is still present, more strength, more air intake equals unfair advantage in elite sports.

Also there's the psychological aspect. The male going through puberty building strength, training, pushing their body fully realises what it is and takes to swim, run, cycle faster laptimes and you never lose that psychological capacity.

If people want to transition genders, then have a Male and Female category for naturally born genders and an entirely separate open category for Transgender participants.

This would mean natural males transitioned to female and natural females transitioned to male would compete against each other.

[happycatlady]

Tell this argument to the lady that got her skull broke open by the trans MMA fighter

That was completely unfair. To me it just looked like a man beating up a woman There needs to be a trans category and then they can just fight each other

[VaBeachBeach]

Going through male puberty should forever exclude that person from woman’s sports. Denser bones, bigger heart and larger lung capacity are just a fraction of the advantages trans woman athletes have over bio women athletes. The argument that there are bio women placing higher than trans women means nothing. Maybe that bio woman athlete trained harder and longer than the trans athlete. The issue is a trans athlete could place 3rd because of their biological advantages when the bio woman athlete who came in 4th trained harder and longer. Those biological advantages bumped the more deserving athlete out of a money earning winning spot. The simple fact is that having trans woman compete with bio women is just not fair. If I was a trans woman athlete competing against bio woman placing and I placed in 1st I could never truly be proud of my win. We can never be 100% positive that taking testosterone blockers and taking estrogen makes the playing field level. My opinion is as long as the person went through male puberty they will always have an unfair advantage. Bio women deserve to have their own sporting events where biological men can’t infringe on. Bio woman are woman, bio men are men, trans men are trans men and trans woman are trans woman. No, a trans woman is not a woman. She is a trans woman. It’s that simple

[dylanhoughton]

I agree with the woman. The man is plain wrong

[AshleyMarieMommy]

Stay but play against each other. If it don’t matter, then why would it matter to complete against men!?!?