Dear John,

Trump and his allies are trying to bully trans athletes out of existence through sports bans and public attacks on young athletes. Most recently, he’s intimidated the University of Pennsylvania into blocking trans athletes from women’s sports teams and stripping swimmer Lia Thomas of her rightfully earned titles. And now, the Supreme Court will be hearing challenges this fall in two separate cases addressing the rights of trans athletes to play. We can’t be complicit. Here’s what you should know to understand why advocating for trans women and girl athletes strengthens ALL women’s rights:

• Natural body diversity is inherent in sports: Athletes like Brittney Griner and Michael Phelps, or even left-handed athletes in certain sports like fencing, benefit from biological differences that help them become great athletes and make sports exciting to play and watch! Every athlete’s body may impact their success in different sports, but the reality is there is no evidence that trans women and girls are dominating women’s and girls’ sports. This falsehood also ignores external influences that contribute to athletic success, like hard work and practice, or that create advantages for some athletes, like access to financial resources to pay for expensive coaching, training, and equipment. Anti-trans sports bans also reinforce the idea that athletes can’t be “real” women if they’re too strong, too fast, or too athletic, and that one’s sex assigned at birth is innately linked to athletic success—the same stereotypes women and girls have been fighting for decades to even have the chance to play sports at all.
• Excluding trans women from sports puts ALL women at risk: When stereotypically “unfeminine” characteristics, like being particularly strong, tall, or athletic, are used to alienate and persecute trans athletes, all women’s bodies are vulnerable to unfair scrutiny and policing. For example, when a Utah State Board of Education member publicly and incorrectly suggested a 16-year-old cisgender girl athlete—who had short hair and wore baggy clothes—was trans, the student faced such intense harassment and bullying that her family obtained police protection. Women athletes are already being forced to participate in traumatic and intrusive medical tests and examinations, which particularly harms Black and brown women athletes who have historically been more scrutinized. In 2020, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed into law a sports ban that allowed anyone to question whether a student athlete is a woman or girl, forcing a student to have to “verify” her gender by undergoing a physical examination. And now the Supreme Court will address whether Idaho can allow its dangerous law to continue after it was blocked by the lower courts. Lawmakers in other states have also introduced similar laws allowing for similarly invasive testing as part of their anti-trans sports bans, and earlier this year, Texas sued the NCAA to require sex-screening of student athletes. In short, the risk of harm to all women and girls from anti-trans sports bans is significant and shouldn’t be ignored. 
• Title IX protects girls and women from gender discrimination in sports, including trans girls and women: Trans girls deserve equal opportunity to play, especially to benefit from the many positive outcomes sports provide academically, socially, and emotionally. When trans women and girls are included in sports, cisgender women benefit too; inclusive, diverse communities increase tolerance, address unconscious bias, and allow all women and girls to be themselves. Also, from 2011-2019, states with trans inclusive sports policies had greater participation in sports by girls. Excluding trans athletes is sex discrimination and undermines the basis of Title IX; it also imposes gender-based stereotypes on all women and girls. The truth is, trans women, who have been playing sports for decades, are in no way dominating women’s sports, and there are many other pressing issues and inequities in women’s sports that lawmakers can focus on to truly protect the rights of women and girls in sports. For example, they could address the fact that women and girls have fewer opportunities to play, have access to lesser quality sport equipment and fields to play on, or the fact that college women athletes are shortchanged millions of dollars in athletics scholarships compared to men.

Here’s what you can do to help protect trans athletes: Earlier this year, our president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves, boldly defended the rights of trans athletes in front of a sham DOGE Subcommittee hearing while Republican members of Congress spread lies and misinformation. NWLC will not let any gender discrimination and transphobia go unchallenged, especially when it is perpetuated under the false pretense of “protecting women.” We need you to do the same. Forward this email to five people, share our resources, and boldly defend trans athletes in conversation in your community!

Every woman and girl, regardless of their sex assigned at birth, deserves equal access and opportunities to play sports without the threat of persecution and discrimination. As we continue to survive and fight through Trump’s second administration, it’s imperative that we educate ourselves and fight for trans athletes. Remember, gender justice doesn’t exist unless there’s equity for all.

In solidarity,

Shiwali Patel
she/her/hers
Senior Director of Safe and Inclusive Schools
National Women's Law Center