Classifying males as female based on their feelings undermines the rights of girls and women to educational opportunities, fair sports competition, and privacy and safety in single sex spaces like locker rooms — rights guaranteed by Title IX.

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To state the obvious, male and female bodies are different, and it’s not just their average height. Male advantages include: 

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• Superior muscle mass, particularly in the upper body, giving them greater strength. 

• Greater muscle strength and longer skeletal levers, which enable them to apply more force in jumping, throwing and punching. 

• Greater cardiovascular capacity, which provides more oxygen to the body. 

 

These differences explain why approximately ten thousand male track athletes, including high schoolers, have recorded faster times for the 100-meter sprint than the female world record holder, the late Florence Griffith-Joyner. 

The physical advantages acquired in male puberty are not eliminated by testosterone suppression. According to the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, “The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males.”

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Trans-identified males and males with disorders of sexual development have taken thousands of places in competitions and medals from female athletes at various levels over the past four years alone. By one account, they’ve received more than $1.6 million in prize money that would have gone to females had the males not competed.

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THE POWER IMBALANCE AND THE RISK OF INJURY

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In addition to the loss of opportunities and honors, the physical realities of sex mean that females playing males are at risk of injury. Males have denser bones, more grip strength and punching force than women do. These characteristics and their larger size and muscle mass means more risk to women resulting from collisions and the impact from balls thrown or hit, and direct punches and holds. Examples include:

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• Volleyball player Payton McNabb, who, as a high school player, was knocked unconscious by a male player on the opposing team. Doctors diagnosed her with a traumatic brain injury, a brain bleed, partial paralysis and loss of peripheral vision in her right side.

• MMA fighter Tamikka Brents had her skull fractured by male fighter Fallon Fox. Brents also suffered a concussion and her injury required seven staples to her head. The fight lasted just over two minutes. By Brent’s description, she “never felt so overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female.”

• A player at Collegiate Charter School of Lowell in Massachusetts sustained a back injury in a game against a team with a male player. The coach of the Collegiate Charter basketball team decided to end the game at halftime after watching a third player was injured in the game.

 

The stark difference in power is why we see essentially no “trans-identified” females appealing to compete on male teams.

 

BALANCING INCLUSIVITY AND FAIRNESS

 

How do we balance the desire for inclusivity against the need to preserve female-only sports programs?

 

Acknowledging the reality of sex and ensuring that men’s and boy’s teams are inclusive of all men and boys ensures that no one is deprived of the opportunity to participate in and compete in sports while preserving important rights and opportunities for women and girls.