The question of whether transgender women should be allowed to play and participate in women’s sports has become more and more of a highly debated, extremely controversial topic. While including and respecting transgender individuals, there are many statistics and concerns about cisgender women being put at a disadvantage.
The center of this issue is more than just preference or opinion; the problem is biology. Even after therapy and hormonal changes, the general bone structure and muscle mass are retained. When asked what possible advantages transgender women could have in the sport of tennis specifically, Will Russell, Class of 2027, stated, “They may have simple advantages like hand size, height; however, (cisgendered) women do tend to . . . have strong learning techniques.”
Although many may argue that stubbornness and good learning techniques may create a fair playing ground, there are more disadvantages, excluding just chemical differences. These are biological differences such as height, speed, lung capacity, and general bone structure. In the broader context, the disadvantages extend beyond the chemical imbalances associated with estrogen and testosterone.
Women’s sports were originally created as an opportunity to give cisgender women an equal opportunity to participate in sports; however, in some cases, women still must compete against men. Ebony Garcia, Class of 2027 and former varsity football player, speaks about the struggles she faced participating as the only girl on the team: “I’d say that the coaches treated me differently than the boys in both good and bad ways.”
Garcia played on the team for two years before the women’s flag football team was created as an alternative. While playing with the boys, she began to face the little challenges, bringing awareness to how the general structure and capacity boys have compared to girls can cause larger problems. These problems are not only a concern of gender, but a concern of safety.
Why not instead of mixing transgender and cisgendered people on sports teams, we created co-ed team options for those who would still like to participate in a little competition?
