Another Side of the Gender Debate
Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
This is another installment of reader responses on transgender issues. If you missed part one, it’s here.
Olive is a college student in Florida:
It feels like every day it becomes less safe for me to be trans in public. One of my trans friends is moving away for their own safety. As such, I’ve grown to have a lot of very strong opinions on this subject. One is related to sports, where people often cry that “biological sex” is what matters and that fairness should trump all. However, “biological sex” is not nearly as binary as people believe it to be. Many trans people have been treated medically for a long time and are in most ways indistinguishable from cisgender people. While the chromosomes remain different, they are not an advantage in sports.
Many physical traits are an advantage, yes, but these differences exist anyway! It is unfair to say that a trans woman has an advantage simply by being trans because it makes her tall, only to turn around and say that Michael Phelps should be allowed to compete when he has a biological advantage much more relevant than the one that most trans women have. Sports already select for those most fit to play them physically, be that the tallest or the ones with the most testosterone or the ones with the best relative wingspan.
Limiting people’s sports participation based on
