New bill would ban trans women from US women's sports teams

Backlash seems to be brewing over the inclusion of trans women in women’s sports teams, as evidenced by a new bill being introduced by GOP senators called the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.” If passed, it would disallow biologically male athletes from playing on or competing against biological women.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-GA., the bill’s lead sponsor, spoke out saying, “As someone who learned invaluable life lessons and built confidence playing sports throughout my life, I’m proud to lead this legislation to ensure girls of all ages can enjoy those same opportunities. This commonsense bill protects women and girls by safeguarding fairness and leveling the athletic field that Title IX guarantees.”

Throughout history, most sports have been customarily segregated on the basis of biological sex in order to ensure fairness in competition. However, in recent years, the push from trans activists to include trans women in women’s sports, despite possible biological advantages they may possess over biological women, has stirred up a lot of controversy. It is one of the many battle lines being drawn in the current culture war, and legal wars are sure to ensue. The state of Idaho recently tried to ban trans athletes from female teams in high school and college, but the ban was struck down by a federal judge. Based on this precedent, the survival of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is unclear.

Critics of the inclusion of trans women in women’s sports cite scientific factors such as larger muscle mass, higher bone density, height, skeletal formation, and high testosterone levels as reasons why biologically male athletes should never compete against biological females. While testosterone levels can be altered via hormone replacement therapy, most of the physical development made by the athlete prior to therapy cannot be reversed or undone.

As some may guess, many transgender athletes competing against women are crushing records and beating out their competition with an ease that some may describe as cheating. Last year, trans cyclist Rachel McKinnon set the world best sprint time at the UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships, beating out her biologically female competitors by a long shot.

This issue is one that will clearly rage on for some time to come as society figures out how to either include or exclude trans people in the world of sports and competition. You can watch my full thoughts on the impeding bans and trans athletes in general below in my new YouTube video: