Should transgender athletes be allowed to compete with their own gender

In almost all sports competitions, the male and female gender is split because of their different capabilities and body features. Due to their physical differences, one gender may have advantages over the other, which leads us to the question: where should transgender athletes be placed in this situation? For the reason of equity, transgender athletes should only compete with their biological gender.

Even though it is understandable that people perceive themselves differently from others, their own body features, such as muscle mass and height, remain the same. No matter how they feel about themselves, events such as competitions and tournaments around the world must be fair to the competitors during the rounds. Athletes should win based on their training and hard work, and not because of how they were born.

During the 2022 NCAA Division I swim meet in Atlanta, transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, Lia Thomas, won the championship title in the women’s division. However, as Kirsten Nunez states in her medical review article by Micky Lal on Healthline, average muscle mass for men aged 18-35 years old is around 40%-44%, but only 31%-33% for women. This allows men to have a high RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) and better control their body weight as athletes.

Along with muscle mass also comes height. From CDC’s (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Health Statistics, it is seen that men have an estimated height of 69 inches, while women are only approximately 63.5 inches, giving an average of 5.5 inches difference. Especially in sports like swimming, height and muscle mass play an important role in determining your speed. Since the competitions are separated by gender for equity reasons, it makes sense that competitors enter according to their biological gender, as this determines their body features and abilities during races and meets.

Although gender has recently been a fragile topic in our society, we can still honor one’s gender while ensuring a fair competition. Anyone can decide who and what gender they want to be, but their biological features still stay the same. They cannot change their bodies to be exactly how the other gender was born. competing with their biological gender is the simplest way of guaranteeing that all the tournaments and games are fair.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/us/penn-title-ix-transgender-swimmer-trump.html