Trans Athlete: ‘No Evidence’ That Trans Athletes Have an Advantage Over Anyone Else in Sports

SANCHEZ: “Thanks so much for being with us. I wonder what your reaction is to Trump signing this executive order. How do you weigh the impact that this would have on athletes?”

MOSIER: “We knew that this was coming. This was a campaign promise that the Republicans put a lot of money into in the lead up to the presidential election and has been a pillar of their party for the last several years. So, it’s not a surprise that this is coming today. It’s disappointing, though, that this is happening on National Women and Girls in Sports Day and taking away from some of the actual real things that people can do to support women and girls in sports.”

KEILAR: “So, when you hear people say this is how it should be, trans athletes have a competitive advantage over non-trans athletes, what do you say to them?”

MOSIER: “There’s no evidence that trans athletes have an advantage over anyone else in sports. Trans athletes play sports for the same reasons as anybody else. For our love of the game, to be a part of a team, to challenge ourselves, and most of all, for the youth level, to have fun. And every young person deserves that opportunity to be their authentic self and to play the sports that they love without compromising any part of who they are.”

SANCHEZ: “I’m curious about that, Chris, because you say that there’s no evidence that there’s a competitive advantage, but we’ve heard from parents who’ve had a different experience. They’ve argued that there is irrefutable evidence, irrefutable differences in physiology between the sexes that hormone therapies don’t sufficiently level the playing field. Do you get where they’re coming from?”

MOSIER: “We have to look at what we’re talking about here. And if we’re talking about youth sports — youth sports is part of our educational system, and as part of our educational system, young people learn values such as discipline, hard work, leadership, teamwork, communication skills, and so much more from their participation in sports. We know that each body is different, every person is different, and that even amongst cisgender kids, that is, kids that are not transgender, there are differences in their strength, their speed, their ability, their natural ability, as well as differences in their access to good coaching, to great equipment, to things like rest and recovery or proper nutrition, all of the things that go into making someone be a good athlete. And I think that people don’t really consider those other factors, the laser focus has been on hormone therapy or testosterone, and when we’re talking about young kids, which is part of what this executive order will be applying to, I think we really missed the mark when we’re focusing so heavily on biology and not on the lived experience of kids who are just trying to have the educational experience as their peers.”