A recent study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics confirms that suppressing testosterone levels in male athletes does not eliminate their natural advantages over female athletes, a fact which contradicts Congressional Democrats’ claims that biological men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. 

Last May, the U.S. House passed the so-called “Equality Act,” (HR 5/S 788) which extends federal protections to include sexual orientation, gender identity and would force girls’ and women’s sports to include biological males on female athletic teams. This will put women at a disadvantage and cost female athletes the titles, records, and scholarships that are rightfully theirs and can even lead to serious sports-related injuries. 

No Democrats in Congress voted against the “Equality Act” and they have repeatedly downplayed the competitive advantage that biological males have when competing in female athletics. 

Rep. Ilhan Omar called it a “myth” that men who identify as transgender women have a “direct competitive advantage” and considers it “discriminatory behavior” to not allow biological men to compete against women. 

Rep. Katie Hill downplayed concerns about the bill’s effect on female athletics and said, “This is fear-mongering about transwomen playing in sports.” 

“Arguments about transgender athletes participating in sports in accordance with their gender identity having competitive advantages have not been borne out,” said House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler. 

However, the authors--two bioethics professors and a physiology professor—of the paper, “Transwomen in Elite Sport: Scientific and Ethical Considerations,” concluded that male athletes who identify as “transgender women” have an “intolerable” advantage over their female competitors. The authors cited research showing that “healthy young men did not lose significant muscle mass (or power) when their circulating testosterone levels were reduced to [below International Olympic Committee guidelines] for 20 weeks.” 

The recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2015) guidelines allow biological men to compete in the women’s division “if (amongst other things) their testosterone is held below 10 nmol/L. However, this level is significantly higher than that of biological women.” 

The authors noted that “indirect effects of testosterone will not be altered by hormone therapy. For example, hormone therapy will not alter bone structure, lung volume or heart size of the transwoman athlete, especially if she transitions postpuberty, so natural advantages including joint articulation, stroke volume and maximal oxygen uptake will be maintained.” 

Male athletes have already easily acquired victories in girls’ and women’s sports. Some examples are: 

• Mack Beggs, 17, was born a girl and reportedly began identifying as a boy at the age of three. Though Beggs underwent testosterone treatments for more than a year and had the muscle mass of a teenage boy, Beggs competed and took first place in the University Interscholastic League state girls’ championship on Feb. 25, 2016. 

• MMA fighter Fallon Fox, a biological man, gave his female opponent a concussion and broke her eye socket in 2015. The woman, Tamikka Brents, suffered a damaged orbital bone and needed seven staples after she fought Fox. 

• Gabrielle Ludwig, 50, who was born Robert, joined the women’s basketball team at Mission College in Santa Clara, California, in 2012. Ludwig is 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds. 

• Cyclist Jillian Bearden, a 36-year-old biological male and Colorado Springs native, won the women’s division of the El Tour de Tucson in four hours and 26 minutes in November 2016. 

• Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, a biological man, won the Australian international women’s competition on March 19, 2017. Hubbard, 39, lifted 591 pounds, nearly 20 pounds more than the woman who won the silver medal by lifting 572 pounds.