Percy Bartelt, opinions editor

Athletics is a place for everyone to be a part of a team or community, a place where you can push and test the physical limits on your body, a place to simply blow off some steam or relax after a stressful day — we can all agree on that. Personally, I played volleyball, softball and ran track and field in middle and high school and loved getting outside and keeping active. This is a space intended for everyone who wants to be there. But apparently that can never be true for transgender individuals. 

Back in 2022, the NCAA Division I Women’s Competitive Swimming and Diving Championships occurred and two people competing were Riley Gaines from the University of Kentucky, a very vocal conservative and anti-trans political activist — off to a great start here — and Lia Thomas from the University of Pennsylvania, the first openly transgender woman to receive an award at the NCAA competitions. Wanna know what place Thomas received that made Gaines spiral into a transphobic war leading to the presenting and passing of a transphobic bill that excludes trans women from women’s sports? Fifth place. Now, I’m not saying that had Thomas gotten first or second would Gaines’ behavior be justified, it never will be, but just the thought of receiving… a fifth place trophy… and freaking out over it? 

This bill is completely ignorant of all facts of how the human body and hormones work within the body. They claim that trans women have a biological advantage over women, when that is not true. Fun fact, I don’t know if you know this, but every human body is different! Just look at Michael Phelps for example!  A cis man in the men’s swimming competition completely dominating his sport because biologically his arms are longer and his lung capacity is bigger. Where’s the outcry for that? Oh, right! There isn’t one, because he is a cisgender man. Thomas is not completely destroying her competitors bringing into question her ability, it is simply a fact of life that people will be better at some things than you. Grow up. 

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for trans women normalizes the estrogen levels in their body and sometimes trans women also take a testosterone blocker so the hormone levels for them are identical to that of a cis woman. But also, another fun fact, genetics is a fun thing that can vary from person to person — hormone levels can naturally be different, like with PCOS and even cis women can be born with XY chromosomes and still be a cis woman! I need to also mention that these ideals also disproportionately affect women of color. Transphobia has a large basis within racist ideologies. It is basic biology that everyone is different and to say that Thomas had a clear advantage over Gaines is untrue and transphobic. 

Sports are for everyone and should be a more open space. It’s genuinely sad to hear that this bill was passed in Oklahoma, banning trans women from sports and that it incorrectly defines sex and gender as well.