[title of blog]

"Dear Dr. Acton,

To be outspoken against trans youths in sports in a state where more than one in ten adults identify as LGBTQ+ is regrettable and shortsighted. It not only shows a failure in understanding of gender, but also of sports.

I barely even have a toe in the sports culture in Ohio and yet here I am discussing equality in school sports with our would-be governor. I was a high school sports photographer for four years, and in that time I noted a few things regarding gender segregation.

The first is that it isn’t uncommon for girls to play in boy’s sports. In areas where there is not enough interest for a complete girl’s team, schools allow a team to become mixed-gender. Wrestling, particularly, often has girls competing against boys- the classifications are by weight. Competitors do not fight outside their weight class, but they will fight outside their gender within that weight class.

My high school football team had a female kicker in 1999. In 2010, Kelly Kulick defeated 62 of he country’s top male professional bowlers. Shooting events only became segregated by sex at the Olympics in 1992 when Zhang Shan outclassed other participants by hitting a perfect 200/200 of her targets.

A 2024 BBC article titled “The Sports Where Women Outperform Men” cites Professor Sandbakk of UiT The Arctic University of Norway states that its very difficult to separate biological and social aspects contributing to differences between men and women in sports performance. This includes unequal access to sport opportunities.

The second is variation in human physiology. As a doctor, you should be familiar with the variety within a single demographic- as a species, humans are not terribly sexually dimorphic compared to things like birds or amphibians. Women have wider pelvic bones, but narrow variations affect 15%-20% of women. This does not make them men.

In 2023, the International Boxing Association disqualified several athletes from women’s competitions at the World Championships. This disqualified a number of athletes, including Imane Khelif who- up until this moment- had been competing with women.

Khelif is not, to anyone’s knowledge, a trans woman. In fact, in her home country of Algeria, being transgender is strictly prohibited and under the 1966 Penal Code is considered an ‘act of homosexuality’ and ‘public indecency’ - punishable for up to 3 years imprisonment and heavy fines. However- many people jumped on this ruling as a reason to exclude Khelif from the 2024 Paris Olympics, and debate spawned on whether or not she should give back her gold medal.

Those who are under-educated on the nuances of chromosomes and intersex conditions, and who felt that this controversy was an example of why transgender women do not belong in women’s sports, began making unkind observations about Khelif that echo racist phrenology. Unfeminine features like a square jaw, a long face, muscular arms. But she was every bit a woman that you and I are.

When we say that trans girls do not belong in girl’s sports, that puts the onus of defining womanhood on someone who has different ideas of what a woman should be. This is unfair to women like me, who had to have a hysterectomy for medical reasons. Or my girlfriend, who has had facial hair since she was eleven. No doubt you’ve heard people speculating on Michelle Obama’s womanhood, despite having two daughters.

Femininity is heavily policed, unfairly so. Women are being harassed at women’s restrooms for not conforming to a standard visual representation of what someone else thinks women ought to be. It was not long ago that lesbians were thought to be dangerous to have in high school sports. We have come a long way since then, but I hear the echoes of it in your voice.

If women can do anything that a man can do, then there is no reason to insist that separating them in competition is ‘fair.’ If womanhood is subjective, then the barriers for entry are also subjective. In an ideal world, sports would be separated by things like weight or skill level. I know that is a lofty ask by today’s standards. Today I simply ask that you listen.

Just because it is the law doesn’t mean that it is right. There are many laws in Ohio that were made to appease a conservative base and do not apply broadly to the scope of peoples who live here. Taking a stand with your trans Ohioans and listening to what they have to say is the first step towards a future where everyone can live the rich, full life that they deserve.