I've been thinking about my "glory days" – I was a spectacularly mediocre NCAA athlete. Nonetheless, I credit my livelihood today as a registered nurse to my short time in sports. So can we just start by acknowledging that the value of sports does not start or end with winning? Yet, every time trans athletes – specifically trans women – are discussed in the media, the conversation is reduced to one thing: competition. Who gets to win? Who has an advantage? Who is "biologically" superior? This framework misses the entire point of sports. If a young athlete learns discipline, resilience, teamwork, and a love for movement but never wins, should they have never played?
Imagine your kid is in gymnastics, and a new kid joins the team. What is important to us as parents – as a society – in that moment? I would say, "Be kind. Include them. Help them feel welcome. Offer support. Make a new friend." But we've lost the plot somewhere between that moment and the moment a trans athlete wins. Suddenly, it's not about kindness, support, or community anymore. It becomes about blame. About resentment. About deciding that some people don't belong.
Losing is tough. I've lost plenty. And I get it – competition matters. Winning feels good. But one of the most powerful lessons in sport isn't how to win. It's how to lose – with grace, humility, and respect. The moment we teach kids to blame and scapegoat an opponent instead of learning from the experience, we lose sight of what sports are really all about.
If the debate insists we acknowledge differences among athletes – why are only trans women singled out? Every body has unique physical traits that provide advantages and disadvantages. Since when has sport been about eliminating our differences? The magic of sports has always been about celebrating human potential. So, let's just say the quiet part out loud: People who don't want trans girls in sports do not think trans girls are girls. Also known as President Donald Trump's executive order, "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports."
Therefore, in the case of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has recently outed himself on his new podcast as a right-wing sympathizer – his "allyship" was uninformed and therefore has always been performative. Supporting trans people starts with a foundational truth: Trans women are women, trans men are men. It is absolutely essential that our allies fully understand this truth, as it underpins any effective defense of us.
While the anti-trans narrative is dominating the media right now, it seems there is very little interest in research, science, or facts – a sad hallmark of the Trump administration. But for anyone interested in such things – research supports the inclusion of trans athletes in sports and there is no credible evidence that trans women have an inherent, unbeatable advantage over cis women in elite sports. The idea that trans women are "logically" superior athletes is rooted in patriarchy, misogyny, sexism, and transphobia. I cannot think of a less feminist exercise than teaching my daughter she could not possibly compete with a trans girl.
The reality? Trans people are severely underrepresented in sports. Trans women have been allowed to compete in the women's Olympic category for over 20 years, and yet, only one ever has. There are 510,000 NCAA athletes. Statistically, thousands of them should be trans. Yet in 2024, only 10 openly trans athletes competed. When I think about those athletes and what they had to endure to get to where they are – it is both infinitely inspiring and infinitely sad. Their participation embodies what sports are all about – resilience, dedication, perseverance, and hard work. The barriers they have overcome read like a microcosm of America's problems – fear, hate, misinformation, bias, isolation, retaliation, exclusion – all in the name of "fairness?"
Excluding trans women from sports isn't about fairness, it's about reinforcing harmful patriarchal standards of who gets to be seen as real, worthy, and equal. If the only time you speak up about fairness is when a trans kid wants to play, you aren't fighting for fairness, you're fighting for exclusion. If fairness were the goal, we would be talking about how Black and Brown kids have fewer opportunities, exclusionary pay-to-play structures, funding disparities between girls and boys sports, the lack of ADA accessible options, or how economic barriers keep so many kids from ever stepping onto a court or field at all. Where was this energy when I lost teammates because they couldn't afford the uniforms or couldn't get rides to practice? Instead, lawmakers and media personalities have opted to die on this transphobic distraction of a hill.
Trans kids deserve opportunities to realize their potential and to find community in the sports they love. They deserve equal access to the tools to become capable, confident adults. Trans people belong in sports because trans people belong everywhere. The purpose of sports is not to gatekeep womanhood or to police bodies or even to stack trophies. It is to build stronger, healthier people and communities. If we deny these kids the opportunity to play, we are not protecting sports – we are undermining the very reasons we play them in the first place.
Sydney Simpson (they/them) is a trans/nonbinary registered nurse with the California Nurses Association. They serve on the executive board of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club where they co-founded the Trans Caucus. They live in San Francisco with their wife and their 2-year-old.
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