As With Many Other Issues, Americans Out of Step With Science on Trans Athletes

Most Americans are uncomfortable with two things: transgender athletes and science. According to polling data shared this week by the Pew Research Center in light of the current debate around the WNBA, a majority of Americans (73%) say that they are uncomfortable with the idea of trans athletes playing on sports teams that do not match their gender as assigned at birth. A smaller majority (66%) say they would support a law or policy that legally bar trans athletes from participating on sports teams that match their gender identity. The results of the survey were even more skewed when political affiliation was taken into account. Among Republicans, 91% said that they would be uncomfortable with trans athletes, while only a small majority of Democrats (55%) said the same. The surveys, conducted in February and November of last year, included over 10,000 respondents as part of its methodology and recruited people via online surveys and telephone calls.Of course, the results reflect a political world in which right-wing politicians have been demonizing trans youth and trans athletes as wedge issues, despite the majority of Americans supporting trans rights more broadly for several election cycles. While these poll results might be in step with the United States’ political reality, they are unfortunately out of step with the science on trans athletes. Several studies have found that not only do trans athletes not have any advantage over their cisgender counterparts when it comes to athletic competition, they may in fact face several disadvantages. Prior to the current trend of leagues banning trans athletes outright, some had instituted policies more in keeping with current research, simply requiring trans women to have maintained a certain hormone benchmark for specified durations of time in order to compete against other women.But of course, this is not the only issue for which there is a sizable gap between science and public opinion. A 2014 Pew Research Center poll