In your opinion, should transgender athletes be allowed to compete in women’s sports?

👍 Yes (20%) – "Affirming gender is very empowering to transgender individuals. They are already dealing with many challenges in society, and are not joining sports to be unfair, but to feel included and accepted. I believe this type of action is more about transphobia than the sport issue. Just let them play."

• "There is no evidence that trans athletes have an inherent or biological advantage. Also, participation in sports is completely voluntary and always includes and element of risk. It is unjust and transphobic to place blame on participants like Lia Thomas who have complied with NCAA policies."

👎 No (67%) – "Males who have undergone puberty have physiological advantages over females that have gone through puberty. A different story if the transgender person changed prior to puberty."

• "Transgender athletes have a clear advantage when competing in women's sports. Unfortunately I don't believe there is a clear cur solution to this inequality & frustration experienced by the athletes."

"Let’s put aside all gender politics and focus on hard facts. Men are stronger competitors than women. They’re faster and stronger. They have a huge advantage over women. How is it fair to let a biological man compete against women? Hormone therapy doesn’t change the fact that they still have more muscle, more speed, and more stamina. Personally, if I ever saw biological men competing against me in my sport, I wouldn’t give a —— about their identity. I would feel angry, cheated, and betrayed by the very system that’s supposed to guarantee me FAIR chance at winning, not “allow” me to compete against people that are guaranteed to beat the crap out of me. Isn’t the difference between men and women’s sports there to shield us from the fact that a man will beat a woman, 9 times out of 10?"

• "As I understand it, biological males who go through puberty have greater bone density and more fast-twitch muscle, to name just a few differences. In a sport like swimming, the difference in musculature is significant. And then those differences are amplified in contact sports like basketball or boxing. I’m confused about how we can have mantras like “follow the science” and then absolutely disregard things like XY and XX chromosomes. Men and women are different, and as a woman, I’m proud of those differences."

"They have the genetics and people with xy chromosomes are stronger than a xx chromosome. I understand that it can be discriminatory but the science of it matters too. It is unfair to have competitors who are generically stronger."

• "For some sports, genders compete on equal footing, such as archery and target shooting. In sports requiring physical strength to excel, males develop different physical capabilities. Now, whether the person's body grows just the same before male puberty puts a question in my mind. Until that question is resolved, I'm with the girls!"

"The determining factor in athletic performance does not just derive from testosterone levels but also on factors like VO2, lung capacity, lactate thresholds and endurance. Although women have improved in all those metrics, anatomic differences make it very hard for biological women to have the same performance as trans women that went through puberty as males. The current male world record in the marathon is 2:00:35 compare that to 2:11:53 for the women. You may think that 10 minutes is not too much but in the world of running it is an eternity."

🤷 Unsure/other (14%) – "Not sure because I'm unfamiliar with to what extent the hormonal therapy actually negates the "inherent biological advantage" that a trans female might have when competing. Also wouldn't the opposite then be true for a trans male?"

• "It’s a complicated issue and I simply don’t know how all athletes can be treated fairly under the current structure. I think that Billie Jean King was on to something when she suggested a third “all gender” category of sporting events."