This week: a long form, productive conversation about transgender athletes competing at the highest levels in sports.
Last Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. One day later, the NCAA banned trans athletes from women’s competition.
We recorded this episode before this executive order but it obviously looms large over the current discourse.
What you're about to hear hopefully provides a model for a very different kind of conversation on this topic: one that is good faith, compassionate, and rooted in evidence.
We focus the conversation on elite sports: professional and college levels as well as national and international competitions. We dive into the fundamental questions that many of us, including all of the sports-based governing bodies, are struggling with.
How do we reconcile gender identity and underlying biology?
The Guests
“The women's category is an umbrella for all women and the marginalization of all women is a significant factor. Trans women are among the most marginalized of women.” - Dr. Joanna Harper
Dr. Joanna Harper is a medical physicist and internationally recognized researcher on gender variance and sports. Joanna has advised the International Olympic Committee and the World Athletics Championships. Joanna has been an elite runner for more than four decades, first in the men's category and for the last twelve years in the women's category.
Since time immemorial, we've been discriminated against not because we were women, but because we were female. We've been discriminated against because we have female bodies. - Doriane Coleman
Doriane Coleman is a Professor at Duke Law School and co-director of the Duke Law Center for Sports Law and Policy. Doriane competed on the U.S. and Swiss National track and field teams, and was U.S. National Collegiate Indoor Champion in the 800 meter.
Notes
Throughout the episode, we use some shorthand to talk about the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Boxing Association (IBA).
In 2022, American swimmer Lia Thomas was the first openly trans athlete to win an NCAA D1 championship.
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