Frequently Asked Questions

I. ABOUT SCIENCE AND SEX

Q1. Why “male who identifies as transgender” rather than “transwomen”?

Q2. What are sex differences?

Q3. Why do we have separate-sex sport?

Q4. Couldn’t we have eligibility criteria for the two divisions (male and female) based on some different (other than sex) physical criteria?

Q5. If a boy and a girl are the same height, weight, and body build, aren’t they likely to be essentially the same athletically?

Q6. What do scientific experts estimate is the sports performance advantage of post pubescent males?

Q7. Are advocacy groups correct when they say that it’s a myth and an outdated stereotype that females can’t compete with males?

Q8. What does testosterone have to do with separate-sex sport—why are we always hearing about testosterone in this context?

Q9. What do people mean when they say that there is a “male range” and a “female range” for testosterone?

Q10. Don’t some healthy females produce testosterone in the “male” range?

Q11. Don’t elite female athletes have high testosterone levels—isn’t this what makes them good athletes?

Q12. Why have many sports organizations adopted a testosterone test for their eligibility standard for inclusion in women’s sport?

Q13. Why have some sports organizations adopted the testosterone level of 5 nmol/L as the upper limit for inclusion in the female category?

Q14. Why is only the female category policed for testosterone levels—why doesn’t sport also set an upper limit for the male category?

Q15. Are advocacy groups correct when they say that there is no evidence that males who identify as trans have an advantage over females in sport?

Q16. Are advocacy groups correct when they say that any remaining advantages males have over females in sport are the result of cultural stereotypes and lesser opportunities for development, training, and competition?

Q17. What does it mean physically or biologically to say that someone is “transgender”?

Q18. Do all males who identify as transgender have a testosterone advantage?

Q19. What is meant by “legacy advantage” in the discussion of males who identify as transgender in girls/women’s sport?

Q20. Does transgender inclusion have anything to do with doping or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), and if so, what’s the connection?

Q21. Do we have any data on the impact of males who identify as transgender with no medical intervention in girls’ high school sports?

Q22. Do we have any data on the impact of girls who identify as transgender with or without medical intervention in high school sports?

Q23. When post-pubescent males who identify as transgender take gender-affirming hormones, do their athletic performances decline? If so, does any performance or “legacy” advantage remain?

Q24. Why do some sports organizations and governing bodies – including the NCAA – require that males who identify as transgender reduce their testosterone levels for a year before they can compete in girls’/women’s interscholastic and intercollegiate competition?

Q25. Is there strong scientific evidence that males who identify as transgender have an unfair advantage over biological females even after a year of androgen-suppressing treatment?

Q26. Is the NCAA’s eligibility rule for males who identify as transgender sufficient to ensure fairness to and the safety of the biological females in the field?

Q27. What–if any–is the relationship between DSD/intersex and trans athletes?

II. ABOUT CURRENT LAW ON SEX AND SPORTS

Q28. What law or laws currently provide for separate-sex sport?

Q29. Are advocacy groups correct when they say that the law affords females the right to participate, not the right to win and set records, in sport?

Q30. How would the redefinition of “sex” in federal law to include gender identity affect the legal status quo? For example, would it allow schools and sports organizations including the NCAA and USOPC to continue to maintain separate-sex sport?

Q31. Why do proponents of the Equality Act (EA) assert that the redefinition of sex won’t affect girls’ and women’s sport?

Q32. How does the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) affect separate-sex sport? Does it prohibit all distinctions on the basis of sex, including in sport?

Q33. Does the law currently allow schools to distinguish females from males who identify as transgender? Can accommodations be developed that lawfully provide for their conditional inclusion in girls’/women’s sport?

III. ABOUT POLICY AND SOCIETY

Q34. What are the principles that the Women’s Sport Policy Working Group used to develop its approach to males who identify as transgender in girls’/women’s sport?

Q35: Has the WSPWG taken a position on the state legislative efforts to ban transgirls from being on girls’ school sports teams and competing in girls’ events or to categorically include males who identify as transgender on girls’ teams?

Q36: How does the WSPWG recommend handling the question of whether males who identify as transgender should be allowed access to women’s locker rooms, toilets, and sleeping spaces?

Q37: Why is this such a big deal? Trans athletes aren’t really winning very often, are they?