Linda Dunn
When Governor Holcomb declined to sign a bill banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports in school, I wondered how common this problem had become. So many states had passed bills prohibiting trans athletes from participating in girls sports programs that I thought this must be a widespread problem overwhelming our nation’s schools.
It isn’t.
Reviewing a report from the Human Rights Campaign, I learned that only 14% of transgender boys and 12% of transgender girls play sports. The same source estimated there are possibly 35,000 transgender student athletes in high schools nationwide. Given that there are over 15 million students in high schools, I have to pause and wonder why lawmakers are so focused on a situation that occurs so rarely.
I was born female and grew up before Title X and thus didn’t have an opportunity to play sports in school. However, I now compete in local, regional, national and international competitions and teach fencing at IUPUI. I am well aware that there are many sports where males have physical advantages over female athletes but this is not true for all sports, and this is why we have sports-governing bodies making decisions about who can participate and under what circumstances. This method is imperfect but still superior to the sledgehammer approach many lawmakers are taking to this issue.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), calls for transgender participation for each sport to be determined by the policies of the national governing body for that sport, subject to ongoing review and recommendation by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to the Board of Governors.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) are other school-related sports governing bodies better positioned to understand issues of safety and fairness in a given sport than most of us and – hopefully –better than most state legislators.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is headquartered in Indianapolis. Over 19,500 high schools belong to associations that are members of NFHS. Not all schools are full members, but the rules the NFHS publishes for each sport or activity are adopted by most states for state high school competitions. Unlike our state legislators, those who write these guidebooks have backgrounds in relevant fields and strive for fairness and safety in a rapidly changing world.
So why are so many state legislators wading into this fracas about transgenders in sports?
If they’re doing this, as many claim, because it’s not “fair” for girls to compete against trans athletes who are (sometimes mistakenly) assumed to have physical advantages by virtue of being born male, then they are barking up the wrong tree.
The real inequality in our athletics programs is not about gender but about economics. An athlete’s potential is enhanced and limited by the opportunities accessible and affordable for that athlete.
Some schools have athletic facilities which rival those of professional training facilities while other schools move tables and chairs in the cafeteria to make room for their limited sports offerings.
Wealthy parents can afford to send their children to sports training camps and hire private coaches to develop their skills to the highest level. Lower income families simply cannot afford that type of expenditure and especially so if their child aspires to excel in a sport where few universities offer programs, let alone scholarships to justify a family’s “investment” in the child’s athletic achievements.
If we were truly interested in fairness in sports, we would be addressing this and many other inequalities to ensure all American children have an equal opportunity to reach their highest possible potential. Instead, we’re fixated on things like testosterone levels with the consequence that we ban those born-female athletes whose bodies naturally produce a greater amount of this hormone than the guidelines allow.
Perhaps the reason we are focused on this non-issue rather than on improving opportunities for all our children is because the goal is not fairness or equality or even “protecting our daughters.” The goal is “ginning up the base” for the next election.
A lifelong resident of Hancock County, Linda Dunn is an author and retired Department of Defense employee. Send comments to [email protected].
