Should trans athletes be able to compete in women’s sports?

This week, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) signed a pair of bills into law that effectively prohibit any transgender girl or woman from joining a female sports team in grades K-12 or college.

📝 Some quick background… Gov. Burgam previously vetoed a nearly-identical measure in 2021, saying he did so because “there has not been a single recorded incident of a transgender girl attempting to play on a North Dakota girls’ sports team.”

But the issue went before the GOP-controlled state legislature again earlier this year – and this time, it passed with a veto-proof majority.

📸 Big picture: With the move, North Dakota joins 20 other Republican-led states that have enacted similar restrictions preventing trans women and girls from participating in women’s sports.

• Proponents of the bills argue athletes who were born male have inherent advantages when it comes to athletics, and shouldn’t be allowed to compete against cisgendered women – aka women whose gender matches their sex at birth – in order to preserve the competitive integrity of women’s sports.
• Opponents contend that, in many cases, the measures represent a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, and are part of an agenda to erase and exclude trans individuals from participation in all aspects of public life.

🏛️ Over on Capitol Hill: Last week, the Biden administration proposed a new rule under Title IX that would prohibit schools from enacting “one-size-fits-all” policies that categorically ban trans athletes in colleges and K-12 education. Instead, schools would only be allowed to restrict trans athletes from participating for the sake of certain specific goals, which include “ensuring fairness in competition or preventing sports-related injury.”

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, should trans girls and women be allowed to compete in women’s sports?

Yes

No

Unsure/other