Biases Behind Transgender Athlete Bans are Deeply Rooted

The Politics of Transgender Bans

States whose residents have conservative political leanings tend to have more restrictive views on civil rights issues such as immigration, health care and the use of the death penalty.

These patterns hold for transgender rights, too.

In our work, we found that states with conservative-leaning legislatures such as in Wyoming and West Virginia were most likely to enact transgender athlete bans. As were states with Republican governors, such as Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas.

These statewide patterns are consistent with national political actions.

In 2023, the Biden administration proposed a change to Title IX, the federal law that bans sex discrimination at K-12 schools and colleges that receive federal funds. Under Biden's proposed changes, Title IX would also ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In response, nearly all – 25 of the 26 Republican governors – called on Biden to delay or withdraw the rule change. To date, Biden has not made a final decision and has delayed the change.

Bias Against Transgender People

But politics tells only part of the story.

We found that conservative political leanings spurred collective biases against transgender people, which in turn prompted the bans.

Political scientists have previously shown that politicians craft narratives and frame their arguments in ways that help shape people's attitudes about social issues. In fact, people will sometimes adjust their perspectives to align with those held by their political representatives.

That's what we found.

Impact on sports and athletes

Biases that are prevalent in a community or state represent systemic forms of oppression. Coupled with laws that limit rights, collective biases serve to stigmatize transgender people, hurting their overall health and well-being.

The impact is far-reaching.

Transgender athletes face the real possibility of participating in a sport one day, only to be prohibited from doing so the next. Ending a career in sports, regardless at what age, can harm the mental health of some athletes, something only likely to be magnified given the reason for the end.

Coaches and sport administrators living in conservative states might find themselves having to navigate laws affecting who can play on their teams. They can do so by partnering with campus counselors and ensuring their athletic departments are inclusive spaces.

What's Next?

The links among conservative politics, collective biases against transgender people and transgender rights are unlikely to diminish any time soon. National political reporters Adam Nagourney and Jeremy Peter explained that social conservatives have targeted transgender rights as a way of galvanizing their constituents. The GOP efforts came about after planning by national conservative organizations to "harness the emotion around gender politics."

Proponents of transgender inclusion have offered counterarguments, showing that transgender athletes are not a threat to women's sports, nor have they ever been.

This data is important but will go only so far when combating biases.

Education and the chance to be around transgender people in everyday life also help curb prejudice. These collective factors, when combined with compelling stories about transgender inclusion in sports, may be what's needed to overcome the biases in place.

George B. Cunningham, UAA Endowed Professor of Sport Management, University of Florida and Kelsey Garrison, PhD student, Department of Sports Management, University of Florida

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.