In Part I of “Share the Platform,” we explored the way the participation of transgender athletes in sports mirrors the broader experience of trans folx as they move through the world. Put simply, various measures have been taken to exclude trans athletes, and especially trans girls and women, from participating on teams that align with their gender. This mirrors the otherizing that trans folx often experience as they engage with a dominant culture that assumes everyone is cisgender and heterosexual. For trans women, especially trans women of color, this “otherizing” takes the form of violence. All of this is unacceptable. Transgender athletes belong in strength sports. Transgender athletes belong in sports generally. Let’s dive back in.
 
As we did in the last article, let’s go over a few terms! To be cisgender means to identify as the gender you were assigned at birth. To be transgender means to identify as a gender other than that you were assigned at birth. This “assigned” designation is important. The best parents and doctors can do when a baby is born is identify which genitals it has. (And, there are plenty of intersex conditions where neither female nor male external genitalia are exclusively or fully present.) Biological sex is a less black-and-white construct than many have been led to believe! Scientific American wrote a fascinating article on this topic titled “Sex Redefined,” which is included in the references section below. A transgender woman may identify as a woman who was assigned male at birth (AMAB), while a transgender man may identify as a man who was assigned female at birth (AFAB). (It’s also worth noting that “female” and “male” are sex terms, while “woman,” “girl, “man,” and “boy” are gender terms.)
 
But! It’s not as simple as swapping sides in a gender binary. Gender is, indeed, non-binary. Think of it as a spectrum or some sort of radial continuum where qualities like masculinity and femininity, or the lack thereof, all occupy some sort of amorphous space where a person has the agency to identify with whatever is meaningful to them. That’s gender. Gender encompasses numerous identity categories and labels, including transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, gender-non-conforming, gender-expansive, and a host of others. There are myriad resources that can help anyone, especially someone questioning their gender identity and/or presentation, navigate the glorious amorphousness that is gender.
 
For the purposes of sport, gender is typically broken down into a binary and there is an assumption that a person engaging in a sport as a particular gender was also assigned that gender at birth. Put otherwise, there is cis-sexism at play in the sport realm, meaning there is a basic assumption that all athletes are cisgender. It may be a simplistic system, but it has been a functional one for the purposes of sport, even as it is problematic within the larger sphere of identity and personhood. Trans athletes challenge this system. In the last article, we discussed how legislative efforts have been leveled at trans girls in particular, preventing them from playing school sports on teams that align with their gender.
 
The same type of hegemonic dominant culture expectations that impact the LGBTIQA+ experience generally, and which apply to school sports, apply to adult sports as well. Many will recall the case of Caster Semenya, a Southern African track athlete who butt heads with the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) regarding her numerous championships and testosterone levels. That case is interesting because it focuses on her testosterone levels, not her gender identity. (Details are highlighted in the BBC and Global Sports articles linked below.)
 
The relationship between sex and gender is a tricky one. So understandably, many governing bodies, including sport organizations, have been developing policies regarding the participation of transgender athletes. This includes strength sports, such as powerlifting and weightlifting. USA Power Lifting (USAPL) has been the target of extensive criticism over the past several years for refusing to acknowledge that its policies are transphobic. Pull for Pride, an event sponsored by the Women’s Strength Coalition, offered an inclusive policy draft that USAPL refused to adopt. It is also worth noting that the phrase “Share the Platform” is a huge part of Pull for Pride’s and the Women’s Strength Coalition’s messaging! USAPL’s policies have evolved over time, but recently a third category has been created for athletes that USAPL will not allow to compete in either the men’s or the women’s divisions. This is in contrast to USA Weightlifting’s (USAW) policies on transgender athletes, which I will discuss in detail below. Indeed, the organization Athlete Ally, whose mission is “to end the rampant homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality,” cites USAW’s policy as a positive example for strength sport, including for USAPL. Athlete Ally’s Director of Policy and Programs, Anne Lieberman, states that “[f]orcing trans athletes into a separate, third category is harmful ‘othering’ that only furthers the isolation and discrimination trans athletes face.” The world of sport is a microcosm of broader society, and the discrimination that trans athletes face in sport reflects that which they face in life. As Athlete Ally points out, “[s]ports remains one of the greatest socialization mechanisms in the world – it communicates values without relying on any one language, and its most successful participants are known and respected globally. And yet, an entire community of people remain systematically excluded from sport.”
 
With that in mind, there are a few things of importance to note about USAW’s Policy for Transgender Inclusion, which is a powerful and succinct document I suggest reading in full.

1. It applies to athletes of all ages.
2. It does not mandate surgery.
3. It places responsibility on others besides trans athletes themselves.

To point one above, we’ve already addressed how critical youth participation in sport can be for the development of identity and personhood.

To point two above, this is crucial to note because many policies governing trans athletes require trans women to undergo gender reassignment surgery to alter their genitals. But this is becoming a thing of the past. During the last Olympic cycle, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted a policy that would not require surgery as an element of gender expression. In March of 2020, the IOC stated those policies would apply to the Tokyo Games as well. Resources with details, including the full policy, are included below.

To point three above, USAW uses the following impactful language when discussing suggestions for trans athlete inclusion: “Value diversity. Educate yourself and your staff about transgender identity.” This is hugely impactful. For members of the LGBTIQA+ community, and for any community that has experienced oppression, discrimination, and otherizing, the burden is often placed on us to educate those who would oppress us. USAW’s policy does the opposite. This is a meaningful challenge to a status quo that continually overburdens oppressed groups.

Drawing distinctions between USAPL and USAW’s policies is not meant to declare superiority of one of the sports over the other. Powerlifting is an amazing and empowering sport, which is why it is so damaging when a whole group of athletes is excluded. I hope that all strength sports will pull together (pun intended) to welcome trans athletes to the community. And ultimately, I hope that all athletes will be seen as their whole persons, including their various identities, and will feel safe participating in any sport.

Beyond specific policies, language, and scientific studies, what does all of this mean for us as athletes, coaches, and fans? It means we are welcome. It means all are welcome. It means that the experience of sport uplifts the human experience, and the participation of all in sport betters the experience of all in sport. It means step onto the platform. It means share the platform.