The US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can restrict girls' and women's sports to "biological females," effectively excluding transgender athletes.
The decision upholds bans in 27 states, including West Virginia and Idaho, under Title IX and the 14th Amendment.
It also aligns with President Donald Trump's executive order titled "Keeping Men out of Women's Sports," which ties federal funding to compliance.
However, critics argue that these measures have little to do with privacy, safety, fairness, or dignity. Instead, they deprive transgender athletes of those very protections.
The science cited to justify the bans, they say, is flawed.
Science vs. Ideology
Decades of research show that sex, gender, and desire are complex and not strictly binary.
Some people are born with intersex traits or mosaic chromosomes, and hormone levels vary widely. Transgender individuals themselves demonstrate that sex is not immutable.
Yet the ruling and executive order rely on a simplistic, binary view of sex.
Justice Clarence Thomas, in his concurrence, wrote that sex is an immutable biological characteristic and that transgender people are not the sex they identify as, even if they believe they are.
Critics say this language denies the reality of transgender existence and treats trans people as less than equal citizens.
The Trump administration has also moved to discharge transgender service members and upheld bans on gender-affirming care for minors.
These actions are part of a broader assault on bodily autonomy, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Pseudo-Feminism and Pseudoscience
Supporters of the bans claim to defend women's safety and fairness, but critics point out that the same administration has cut programs supporting women and girls, such as Title X family planning and sexual assault prevention.
They note that Trump, who has made derogatory comments about women, is now positioning himself as a defender of women's sports.
Anti-trans discourse often mirrors anti-abortion rhetoric, using pseudoscience to justify restrictions. Just as abortion opponents invented concepts like fetal pain, anti-trans advocates exaggerate the advantages of transgender athletes.
The real goal, critics argue, is to enforce a narrow, religiously influenced gender ideology.
The bans will not make transgender people disappear, but they will cause significant harm.
Trans athletes will lose opportunities, and the message that their identities are not valid can lead to discrimination and violence.
As one 14-year-old trans athlete wrote, "No one should face the vicious attacks I have faced."
