Athletes, Pro Sports

Since Renée Richards’s successful quest to compete in events sponsored by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1977, the circumstances under which trans people have the right to compete in professional (and elite amateur) sports has been a point of contention within sport associations, scholarly research, and wider public discourse. Individual trans athletes have been catalysts for ongoing debates about the extent to which human rights extend to sport participation and the development of policies by sporting bodies. The vast majority of controversies have centered on the participation of trans women in women’s sports because of the assumption that past exposure to higher levels of testosterone constitutes an unfair competitive advantage over cis women competitors. Supporters of trans participation include leading scholars in the field, ...