Scientists say let trans women play sports

A new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine states there is no evidence “to justify blanket bans” on trans women from women’s sports.

The research found that trans athletes who were born male have no advantage over cis women.

Trans Supreme Court ruling

Several UK sports associations have banned trans women after the Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of a woman under the Equality Act is based on biological sex. This includes the Football Association (FA), England Netball, and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Some sports, such as cycling and triathlon, have introduced open categories for trans athletes. 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also attempting to ban trans athletes. The IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, pledged to ban trans athletes in her election campaign.

Earlier this week, the Canary reported on a legal case against an inclusive swimming pond in London. Transphobic pressure group Sex Matters had its legal case against the pond dismissed by the High Court.

In response to the legal case, the City of London Council published research showing that, of 38,000 members surveyed, the vast majority (86%) backed the corporation’s trans-inclusive changing policy. This is despite the recent Supreme Court Ruling on biological sex.

‘No observable differences’

The new study analysed 52 different studies based on 6,485 people, most of whom were transgender.

It found that:

Transgender women might have more muscle mass than cisgender women 1 to 3 years after hormone therapy, but their physical fitness is comparable

Additionally:

Transgender women have significantly greater amounts of body fat than cisgender men but levels comparable to those of cisgender women.

They also discovered that trans women had more lean muscle mass, but “no observable differences” from other women in terms of body strength or VO₂ max — or maximum oxygen consumption. This is a key measure of cardiorespiratory fitness.

When compared to cisgender men, trans women had significantly lower strength and VO₂ max.

The researchers noted that hormone therapy was associated with:

higher amounts of body fat and lower amounts of muscle and less upper body strength 1–3 years after the start of treatment in transgender women, transgender men had less fat, more muscle, and greater strength after hormone therapy.

The researchers concluded that:

The convergence of transgender women’s functional performance with cisgender women, particularly in strength and aerobic capacity, challenges assumptions about inherent athletic advantages derived solely from [gender affirming hormone therapy] or residual lean mass differences.

Featured image via Connor Coyne/ Unsplash