WASHINGTON, D.C. — Independent Women’s Law Center and Independent Women’s Forum today released the second edition of their groundbreaking report, Competition: Title IX, Male-Bodied Athletes, and the Threat To Women’s Sports.

The original report, released in 2021, set out to help athletic associations, policymakers, and courts understand the variety of ways that allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports discriminates against female athletes.  

Since the release of the original report, an increasing number of biological males have sought access to women’s sports. Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania swimmer who smashed women’s records as a senior after previously competing on the Penn men’s team, may be the most high-profile example of this trend. But there are many others. 

In addition to telling the story of female athletes like swimmer Riley Gaines, volleyball player Payton McNabb, and runner Chelsea Mitchell, who were forced to compete against biological males, Competition 2.0 provides crucial updates on the changing legal landscape and analyzes additional scientific evidence regarding the lasting athletic advantage conferred by male puberty. 

Among its key findings:

The Biden administration’s misapplication of Supreme Court precedent not only opens up women’s sports to trans-identifying males, it threatens to undermine the entire legal edifice of single-sex sports;

As more and more biological males enter women’s sports, the threat to female athletes is growing; 

Allowing males to play women’s sports is unfair because of the incontrovertible male athletic advantage.

  • Male bodies carry some athletic advantages over female bodies even in early childhood;
  • The 20-fold boost in testosterone that occurs during male puberty creates a significant, and lasting, athletic advantage for males; and
  • Testosterone suppression cannot eliminate the advantage conferred by male puberty. 
  • Hormone therapy does not alter skeletal architecture (height, wing span, bone geometry, hand size, etc.);
  • Muscle memory allows even males whose muscle strength is reduced after hormone therapy to regain their athletic advantage when training to compete; and
  • Males maintain a significant advantage in speed over biological females even after years of hormone therapy.

Allowing hormonally impaired males to take titles from female athletes makes a mockery of women’s sports. 

Allowing a single male to play on a competitive women’s team takes opportunities from female athletes.  

Jennifer C. Braceras, director of Independent Women’s Law Center, said, “In most sports, allowing biological males to compete with and against females undermines Title IX, which Congress passed to expand opportunities for women and girls, not limit them.”

Riley Gaines, Independent Women’s Voice advisor and 12x All-American swimmer, added, “When schools give women’s trophies to biologically male athletes who suppressed their testosterone, they publicly humiliate female athletes by telling them they don’t measure up to even ahormonally-impaired male body. And they send the message that women need to step aside to placate the feelings of biological males. These messages are regressive and misogynistic.”

Read the report HERE.

For more information, contact Lynn Hatcher at [email protected].

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Independent Women’s Law Center advocates for equal opportunity, individual liberty, and the continued legal relevance of biological sex.

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