Lia Thomas broke records when she raced the 100-meter freestyle at the Ivy League Championships this month. It was just one more record-breaking run for the University of Pennsylvania athlete. But her victory was not met with uproarious congratulations. Instead, headlines and social media posts praised those she left in her wake as the real victors.
The intersection of sexual biology and a level, fair playing field for women in sports is frustrating for Dr. Genny Beemyn, director of The Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and coordinator of Campus Pride’s Trans Policy Clearinghouse.
“There are no studies that indicate the higher the testosterone level, the better the athletic performance is,” Beemyn said. “There’s no science behind any of this.”
Dr. Genny Beemyn, director of The Stonewall Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and coordinator of the Campus Pride’s Trans Policy Clearinghouse.
“Brittney Griner [the basketball player] is 6’ 9”—she has a competitive advantage. Michael Phelps has a huge competitive advantage because of the way his body is shaped,” said Beemyn. “No one is saying Griner shouldn’t play because she’s so tall. No one is saying Phelps shouldn’t compete because of his physique. That’s the nature of sports.”
To Beemyn, this renewed attention on Thomas comes as part of a bigger wave of transphobic laws and policies being enacted across the U.S. At the end of February, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill called “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics, which prohibits the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in state primary school. Earlier in the month, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed SB 46, which prohibits trans youth from playing on school teams that align with their gender identity. On Feb 23, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that gender-affirming medical care should be considered child abuse and called on Texans to report parents of transgender youth as criminals.
“To me, it’s so, so odd to hear these folks, who have never been supportive of women’s athletics, all of the sudden be so concerned about it because there are a couple of women, transgender athletes who are doing well,” said Beemyn. “It just shows that this is a convenient excuse to enact their prejudices against trans people, making them disappear.”
