Current Events > Study Finds Trans Women Athletes Have No Advantage Over Cis Women Athletes

(+) Yeah! (+)

A study on transgender women athletes in elite sport has found that if UCI rules are adhered to, there is currently no substantial evidence of any biological advantages for trans women competing in elite womens sport.
It found there was little evidence that biomedical factors related to male puberty such as lung size, bone density and hip-to-knee joint angle predict an unfair advantage. But some evidence that social factors like nutrition, training and access to equipment do.
These are just some of the key findings listed in an 86-page report titled Transgender Women Athletes and Elite Sport: A Scientific Review, which was commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and published in late 2022.
The inclusion of trans women in elite women's sport has been a hot button issue of late with high profile instances such as Emily Bridges' attempt to compete in the UK sparking concern and upset on all sides. While the inclusion of trans women has led to protests by those who worry that cis women (the term for women born anatomically female) are at a competitive disadvantage at some U.S. races.
However, the report concluded that "the fears that cis women need be protected from trans women in elite sport are unsubstantiated and misplaced.
"What threatens womens elite sport, for cis and trans women, is not trans women, but is rather misogyny in the form of underfunding, non-parity in participation and leadership, inequitable sport space allocation/access, and a range of sporting opportunities not afforded to women (cis women and trans women) in equitable ways."
The report is an in-depth review of all scientific literature published between 2011 and the end of 2021 in English, regarding transgender women and their participation in elite sport.
Relying only on peer-reviewed articles or syntheses of academic literature in reputable academic journals, the study explores both the biomedical and sociocultural perspectives when it comes to the question of trans inclusion in sports.

The Testosterone Advantage

The biomedical perspective is the primary consideration of sports governing bodies around the globe and commonly the center of the fairness debate. Many trans athlete inclusion policies, the UCIs included, look to testosterone level boundaries and medicalized interventions such as the suppression of testosterone and supplementation of estrogen to level the playing field (for more detail see below).
After reviewing the scientific literature of the past decade, however, the report finds that not only are these boundaries arbitrary, the studies are flawed and inconclusive.
The review points to shortcomings such as using non-athletic trans women as subjects; inadequately adjusting data for factors such as height or weight; little understanding of the (disadvantageous) effects of hormone therapy; not differentiating between performance-enhancing doping and naturally occurring serum testosterone; or the little attention given to the fact that distribution of testosterone levels between elite cisgender men and elite cisgender women athletes overlaps.
The study was unable to find support for the argument that testosterone exposure and the biomedical factors related to male puberty such as lung size, bone density and hip-to-knee joint angle lead to athletic advantages.
There is not one discrete biomarker that allows easy comparison of athletes bodies to each other in terms of performance, the study concludes.
[Athletes] are a sum of all their advantages and disadvantages, which results in performance.
While sport-specific studies on performance advantages are lacking, the review did find evidence to indicate that trans women who have undergone testosterone suppression have no clear biological advantages over cis women in elite sport, stating:
While an advantage in terms of Lean Body Mass (LBM), Cross Section Area (CSA - a measure of muscle mass) and strength may persist statistically after 12 months, there is no evidence that this translates to any performance advantage as compared to elite cis-women athletes of similar size and height. The loss in LBM, CSA and strength continues after the initial 12-month suppression and, as of today, no significance studies indicate at what rate or how long this loss continues.
Additionally, the higher levels of red blood cell count experienced by cis men normalize within four months of starting testosterone suppression. And, whats more, those opting for gonad removal, often experienced testosterone levels far below that of pre-menopausal cis women.

The Social Scientific Disadvantages

In developing sporting policies, the social scientific studies have largely been ignored, the report states, yet its the social factors that have a far greater impact on athletic performance than testosterone.
Only certain biomedical factors are policed under a mandate of fairness in elite sport, despite strong evidence that financial material resources (such as access to infrastructure and equipment, nutrition, time to train, higher salaries) are associated with advantage in sport, it reads.
The authors of the review argue that when it comes to questions of 'fairness' in sport, the considerations of discrimination and access are important.
Non-inclusive sporting environments mean that trans women are significantly underrepresented in elite sports. From exclusion policies to changing room access and personal safety, trans-discrimination has a direct impact on a trans woman's access to sport, let alone her performance.
Additionally, there are everyday sociopolitical factors to contend with such as transphobia and marginalization in vital areas such as housing, health care, work and public spaces.
The report found strong evidence that elite sport policy is made within transmisogynist, misogynoir, racist, geopolitical cultural norms.
Norms, which the report states, are the continuation of a long history of exclusion of women from competitive sport, especially those women whose bodies were deemed to not conform to normative standards of femininity.

What the Cycling Rules Say

The UCI's policy on eligibility and regulations for transgender athletes, state that those who transition from male to female (MTF) are eligible to compete in the female category as long as:
- the athlete has declared their gender identity as female,
- the athlete can demonstrate that their total testosterone level in serum has been below 2.5 nmol/L for a period of at least 24 months,
- and their total testosterone level in serum must remain below 2.5 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.
Not all cycling nations have adopted this policy, which has led to conflict and confusion for elite trans athletes. British Cycling even went so far as backtrack on its own inclusion policy to block new trans riders from competing until it has reviewed and decided on a new licensing policy due this spring.
USA Cycling has adopted the UCI standard and as such, trans women are allowed to compete at all levels as long as the above qualifications are met.

One study. OK.

In any case, trans exclusionary policies have not been fact-based, so this unfortunately will not affect them, at least in the short-term.

Damn, why aren't more women in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or the NHL?

Damn, why aren't more women in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or the NHL?

It found there was little evidence that biomedical factors related to male puberty such as lung size, bone density and hip-to-knee joint angle predict an unfair advantage. But some evidence that social factors like nutrition, training and access to equipment do.

One study. OK.

Glad this study proves that Lia Thomas went from a mediocre male swimmer to the best female swimmer in the country not because of genetics, but because of misogyny

Though Thomas had been an elite distance swimmer throughout high school and could have joined much more prominent swim programs, Penn was the only place she wanted to go. Her brother Wes swam for the Quakers for four years; as a teenager Thomas often traveled to Philadelphia to watch him. She liked Schnur, Penns longtime coach, and the two quickly developed a bond after Thomas arrived on campus late in the summer of 2017.
Thomas became quick friends with many of her new teammates, connecting over a mutual love of niche anime and video games and through the closeness that can be achieved only through taxing swim practices. The hours back and forth in the pool created a kinship, and the work paid off. During her freshman year on the mens team Thomas established several personal records. In her first Ivy League championships, in February 2018, she had top-eight finishes in the 500-yard freestyle, the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Results Participants were 26.2 years old (SD 5.5). Prior to gender affirming hormones, transwomen performed 31% more push-ups and 15% more sit-ups in 1 min and ran 1.5 miles 21% faster than their female counterparts. After 2 years of taking feminising hormones, the push-up and sit-up differences disappeared but transwomen were still 12% faster. Prior to gender affirming hormones, transmen performed 43% fewer push-ups and ran 1.5 miles 15% slower than their male counterparts. After 1 year of taking masculinising hormones, there was no longer a difference in push-ups or run times, and the number of sit-ups performed in 1 min by transmen exceeded the average performance of their male counterparts.

The inclusion of elite transwomen athletes in sport is controversial. The recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2015) guidelines allow transwomen to compete in the womens division if (amongst other things) their testosterone is held below 10 nmol/L. This is significantly higher than that of cis-women. Science demonstrates that high testosterone and other male physiology provides a performance advantage in sport suggesting that transwomen retain some of that advantage. To determine whether the advantage is unfair necessitates an ethical analysis of the principles of inclusion and fairness. Particularly important is whether the advantage held by transwomen is a tolerable or intolerable unfairness. We conclude that the advantage to transwomen afforded by the IOC guidelines is an intolerable unfairness. This does not mean transwomen should be excluded from elite sport but that the existing male/female categories in sport should be abandoned in favour of a more nuanced approach satisfying both inclusion and fairness.

Thigh muscle volume increased (15%) in TM, which was paralleled by increased quadriceps cross-sectional area (CSA) (15%) and radiological density (6%). In TW, the corresponding parameters decreased by 5% (muscle volume) and 4% (CSA), while density remained unaltered. The TM increased strength over the assessment period, while the TW generally maintained their strength levels.

We report that the performance gap between males and females becomes significant at puberty and often amounts to 10-50% depending on sport. The performance gap is more pronounced in sporting activities relying on muscle mass and explosive strength, particularly in the upper body. Longitudinal studies examining the effects of testosterone suppression on muscle mass and strength in transgender women consistently show very modest changes, where the loss of lean body mass, muscle area and strength typically amounts to approximately 5% after 12 months of treatment. Thus, the muscular advantage enjoyed by transgender women is only minimally reduced when testosterone is suppressed.

transphobes aint gonna start caring about science regardless of studies

Except that even though trans women should be referred to as women, they still spend a lot of development in their birth bodies before transitioning and in most sports, men usually have highest rankings than women, you don't have to participate in a sport to have an opinion on this. It's nothing about a phobia either.

Misogyny and lack of funding for womens programs

I like how not only does it combat transphobia but its like yeah, actually old-school sexism was the problem all along. Two birds.

What does mysoginy has to do with anything? If anything transphobe seems to misgender trans women all the time and refer intentionally to them as males.

Damn, why aren't more women in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or the NHL?

hmm

I'm gonna have to review this study carefully. This is kinda telling me to ignore all the evidence I've seen so far.

This argument point will always be terrible because neither side cares about women sports.

The contention is fairness. You either think its unfair for ciswomen or unfair for trans women. But neither side cared about the womens leagues before, so I wish folks would stop attempting this stupid talking point.

This won't change anyone's opinion because opposition to trans athletes was never based in facts, only hatred.

Another issue is there are no disclosures that I could find. I'm always skeptical of studies if they don't provide disclosures of who the people conducting the study are affiliated with.

If what u say is true, who does it come from? Men or women?

Let me guess. Someone told you about bone density and you heard about that one trans athlete that dominated some high sport somewhere? Maybe you watched a South Park episode?

Next you'll try to tell us that there's evidence of biological race.

If what u say is true, who does it come from? Men or women?

Lol.