SPORTS
Report: Trans-Inclusive Sports Benefi t Students
Statistics show better policies translate into better outcomes for youth
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
A new report from the
Center for American
Progress (CAP) reaffi
rms what activists
have said all along: Gender-affi
rming sports policies improve the
lives of transgender students, while
sports bans yield several harmful
effects.
Trans-inclusive sports policies
reduce the risk of poor mental
health and suicide among transgender
students, according to
CAP’s “Fair Play” report, and there
is no evidence to support that
trans-affi rming sports guidelines
harm cisgender people. According
to the Human Rights Campaign’s
“Play to Win” report, 29 percent of
LGBTQ youth who played a sport
reported feeling less depressed
than 21 percent of LGBTQ youth
who did not play a sport.
Relatedly, the Trevor Project’s
2020 Survey on LGBTQ Youth
Mental Health found that 12 percent
of those who reported at least
one in-person LGBTQ-affi rming
space attempted suicide in the
past year compared to 20 percent
of queer and trans youth lacking
in-person LGBTQ-affi rming spaces.
Discriminatory policies compound
the daily violence and scrutiny
facing trans people, the report
shows.
Transgender youth and young
adults are already at a higher risk
of depression, suicidal thoughts,
and suicide attempts than their
cisgender peers. This is not helped
by anti-trans sports policies that
create even more widespread hostility
against trans kids, ranging
from bullying and harassment to
rejection from peers.
While in school environments,
49.9 percent of transgender youth
have been bullied compared to 23
percent of their cisgender peers,
according to the report. School
sports can provide a protective layer
against rampant discrimination
— with many trans youth gaining
social, physiological, physical, and
emotional benefi ts. In fact, 43.6
percent of trans college athletes report
A new report touts the mental and physical health benefi ts of repealing anti-trans sports policies.
improved psychological wellbeing
when compared to 41.8 percent
of trans non-athletes.
“In addition to physiological
benefi ts such as lower rates of obesity,
research has found that high
school and college student-athletes
may be at lower risk for anxiety
and depression, suicide attempts,
and tobacco and illegal drug use,”
the report states.
These benefi ts can even seep into
their safety on campus. Seventyseven
percent of trans athletes felt
somewhat or very safe on campus
compared to 70.7 percent of trans
people who do not play sports.
More than 60 percent of trans athletes
felt like they belonged at their
school compared to 59 percent of
non-athletes.
“Transgender people — like all
other people — belong in sports,”
said the study’s author, Shoshana
K. Goldberg, who is a researcher in
LGBTQ health and policy. “Bans
on their participation do nothing to
‘save sports. Instead, they serve to
deny access to transgender youth,
risking serious harm for transgender
athletes and non-athletes
alike.”
Goldberg added, “Exclusionary
policies such as sports bans further
legitimize transphobia and
hate by sending the message that
transgender youth are not welcome
in spaces that are otherwise
open to all other youth. And with
REUTERS/KIRBY LEE
already staggeringly high rates
of suicidality among transgender
youth, the continued rise of transgender
sports bans may have lifethreatening
consequences.”
This report coincides with the
circulation of anti-trans sports
bills in statehouses across the
country for yet another year. According
to the report, 20 states introduced
bills last year restricting
or excluding transgender athletes
from playing on a team that corresponds
with their gender identity.
In 14 states, trans people are
included in sports only if they
prove their gender identity, medically
transition, or undergo medical
exams. These policies affect
nearly 35,000 transgender high
school students, the report shows.
In Indiana, Kentucky, and Louisiana,
trans athletes can participate
only if they have undergone
gender confi rmation surgery. Several
states have not authored legislation
for or against trans people
in sports.
“These policies not only send
harmful messages that there is a
single, ‘legitimate’ way to transition
— namely, through surgery — but
they also exclude those for whom
surgical transition is not desired,”
the report states. “As well as those
for whom gender confi rmation surgery
is unavailable due to factors
such as age (gender confi rmation
surgery is largely not performed on
youth under age 18), cost, and/or
lack of available providers.”
Lawmakers are garnering support
for these policies by turning
to outdated research and transphobic
stereotypes.
“Such policies not only set arbitrary
guidance around physical
characteristics that ignore inherent
variability in the bodies of
athletes of the same sex, but they
also further force transgender athletes
to choose between playing a
sport and living, and competing,
authentically as their gender, as
well as create hostile climates that
contribute to the negative mental
health outcomes detailed earlier in
this report,” the study states.
According to the report, 16 states
have authored policies supporting
trans athletes regardless of the
sex listed on their birth certifi cate
or their sex assigned at birth. The
researcher concluded pro-LGBTQ
legislation could help fuel this
progress.
Goldberg is advising Congress
to pass the Equality Act, a federal
bill amending Title VII of the 1964
Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination
against LGBTQ people in
housing, employment, healthcare,
education, and other areas of public
life. Furthermore, the expert
notes that providing coaches and
athletic staff training could help
them navigate policies and provide
an affi rming environment.
She also recommends passing
the Safe Schools Improvement Act
(SSIA), a policy prohibiting bullying
and harassment based on
gender, race, class, and other marginalized
identities. Under this
measure, trans and non-binary
students would be able to participate
in sports that correspond
with their gender identity.
“With already staggeringly high
rates of suicidality among transgender
youth, the continued rise
of transgender sports bans may
have disastrous, life-threatening
consequences,” the report concludes.
“Transgender youth should
have the same opportunity as all
youth to be part of a team and feel
a sense of belonging.”
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