Journalists covering transgender sports participation legislation should include these facts and context in their coverage, seek out transgender voices in reporting on transgender issues, challenge politicians’ rhetoric to provide facts to support their claims, and include any history of targeting LGBTQ people (200+ profiles on the GLAAD Accountability Project, here).
- Transgender people make up a tiny fraction of all athletes. Charlie Baker, president of the NCAA testified as of December 2024, he knew of fewer than ten transgender student-athletes among 510,000 total athletes.
- All players follow protocols to participate. International Olympic Committee guidelines for transgender inclusion say there should be “no presumed advantage” based on sex assigned at birth or sexual characteristics. The IOC guidelines were created in consultation with experts in sport, medicine and human rights.
- Sports bans are part of a systematic and expand targeting transgender people and young people who have increased to include their medically necessary care and supported health care, book bans And program bansand access to bathroom.
- Research shows that states that include transgender participation have more girls participating in sports than states that ban it. Claims that trans inclusion harms women’s sports are inaccurate and baseless.
- Women and girls face significant barriers in sport that have nothing to do with transgender inclusion: inequitable facilities, payand marketing; abusive coaches; and racist, sexist and homophobic harassment. Ask critics of transgender inclusion what efforts they have made to address the real issues harming women and girls in sports.
- A 2024 NCAA study shows that female players face a barrage of harassment on social media. 80% of abusive messages were directed at March Madness athletes, with female basketball players receiving approximately three times as many abusive messages as their male counterparts.
- 2024 NCAA and WNBA women’s basketball seasons and championships reached their highest level notes Women’s sport does not suffer from the fact that transgender people could be included.
- Sports bans put all players at risk by encouraging false and baseless allegations and discriminatory and invasive testing. A college volleyball team in California had to get security to protect teams when a player was accused of being transgender. A high school player In Utah, falsely accused of being transgender, she had to benefit from police protection and a Utah elected official was censored for sharing erroneous information about her. Bans on trans athletes have led to invasive practices screening which undermine the privacy and safety of all women and girls, and discourage more people from wanting to play. Athletes from all ages and able-bodied people who are not trans have faced bullying and harassment when accused of being trans.
- LGBTQ athletes continue to face challenges based on their identity. Although LGBTQ acceptance in sport has progressed in recent years, racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, biphobia, and colonialism pose persistent barriers for LGBTQ athletes from multiple marginalized identities. Harmful policies, attitudes and rhetoric towards LGBTQ people in sport are aimed at transgender people, people with intersex traits, people of color, people from non-Western countries, women who do not fit conventional standards of femininity, as well as men who do not fit outdated standards of masculinity.
- Athletes come in all shapes and sizes, with physical advantages that serve their sport.like Michael Phelps’ long arms and Simone Biles’ compact size that help them excel, but these physical attributes have never been used to restrict or prohibit their participation. Being an athlete is also about much more than bodies: it’s about courage, dedication, luck, talent and, urgently, expanding access and encouraging all who want play.
- Look for transgender voices in stories about transgender people.
- Challenge lawmakers proposing bills to provide evidence for any claims regarding athlete safety and privacy.
- Include lawmakers’ history of activating against women and LGBTQ equality (marriage, adoption, book banning, workplace discrimination, and efforts to restrict reproductive health care that have proven deadly for female patients nationwide.) Claims that “keeping women safe and of girls” must be contrasted with a record that explicitly puts them in danger.
- Seek expert advice. South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said in 2024, that transgender women are women and that all women should be able to play sports if they want to. The championship coach, who knows the sport best and has trained and inspired hundreds of players, believes transgender women should be able to play. Hear from the women who are in the game, who understand the real challenges their players face, and who have worked to make more athletes feel welcome.
- Challenge paid spokespersons evidence that blanket bans improve participation and equity. Search and include athletes WHO support transgender inclusion, not just those with time and monetary incentives to target transgender people.
- CDC research shows transgender young people face disproportionate harassment, distress and increased risk of self-harm of being socially ostracized and excluded at school. 40% of transgender and questioning students have experienced harassment at school. 25% of transgender students and 26% of questioning students skipped school because they felt unsafe, compared to 8.5% of cisgender male students.
- The CDC urged schools to “create safer and more supportive environments for transgender and questioning students.”» with inclusive activities, referrals to mental health and other health services, and implementation of LGBTQ-inclusive policies. “Having supportive families and peers, feeling connected to family and school, having an assertive name and pronouns used consistently by others, and having a sense of pride in identity are protective factors for transgender students who mitigate the effects of minority stressors and promote better mental health. .”
- Include the benefits of sports for all children and their peers, and how trans youth would be unfairly and detrimentally excluded from these experiences and lessons. Sports provide a multitude of benefits, including being active and healthy, making friends, feeling a sense of belonging and purpose, learning to be kind competitors as well as winners and losers, learning to cooperate in team, learn to regulate emotionally, acquire new skills, learn to set and achieve goals. Sports participation is proven to improve academic performance, boost social and emotional well-being, and develop skills and relationships that help young people succeed in all facets of life.