With all the support I have expressed for the LGBTQ community, even though I have countless times defended the trans community - today was the first time I addressed the question of whether trans women should compete in women's sports.
USA women's soccer star Megan Rapinoe recently went public with her support of trans women competing with biological women, and said she would favor a transgender woman replacing a biological woman on a U.S. national team. Rapinoe said that politicians are "trying to legislate away people's full humanity."
Nine-time Wimbledon champ Martina Navratilova expressed her disagreement with Rapinoe in an interview with Fox News. Navratilova, who has long been an activist for the LGBTQ community, said that it would be wrong for a transgender female to compete against biological females, and offered the suggestion of a separate category for trans people to compete against each other.
It is a fact that men and women are different when they are born, and though I don't have the specific medical terms to explain it - men are defined by their testosterone. Biological men who are transitioning can take estrogen to overcome the testosterone in their bodies, and might even reach a point where they are indeed female - but the strength characteristics in males cannot be denied. For that reason - I do not believe transgender females should compete in women's sports. Trans females might not be as much of a factor in team sports like soccer as compared to individual sports like tennis or boxing - but I think it's okay to have a general rule that anyone born as a biological male should not be allowed to compete in women's sports.
Again, like Navratilova, I actively support and defend trans people and will continue to do so. The opinion that we share that trans females should not compete in women's sports does not make me any less of a passionate supporter of the LGBTQ community.
Demanding that we accept all or nothing about controversial topics is not fair. In the case of trans athletes - total support for the LGBTQ community should not be contingent upon accepting the idea that transgender females can fairly compete with biological females. I believe they cannot, and respecting the obvious differences between males and females at birth should not disqualify me or anyone else from being an active supporter of the transgender community.
