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Sport and transgender youth
Sport is one of the few domains where the biological reality of two sexes is visible in a direct, measurable way. That applies to elite sport, but — contrary to what is often suggested — also to youth sport. A sports policy that ignores the performance differences between biological boys and girls in the name of inclusion shortchanges precisely the girls and young women for whom the girls' and women's category was once created.
The body develops sex-specifically — even before puberty
It is often claimed that physical differences between boys and girls only arise at puberty. That is partly true, but not entirely. Even before puberty there are measurable differences in muscle mass, cardiopulmonary capacity, haemoglobin and gross motor development, partly due to pre- and postnatal androgen exposure. During and after puberty this difference grows strongly: longer limbs, larger hearts and lungs, higher muscle mass, higher bone density, higher haemoglobin levels. Much of this is retained, even with later hormone therapy.
What puberty blockers do — and do not do — in this context
For a biologically male young person who receives puberty blockers before male puberty, the typically male advantages partly do not develop. That sounds like a solution to a sporting fairness question — but it is the exchange of a social fairness problem for a medical problem: lower bone density, disturbed growth, consequences for sexual development and virtually certain progression to lifelong hormone therapy. A solution that permanently damages the child in its physical development is no solution. See Puberty blockers and Dutch Protocol.
For a biological boy who has been through male puberty and then receives oestrogens, a considerable part of the physical advantages is retained. Research (including Hilton & Lundberg, 2021) shows that 12 months of hormone therapy does not remove the performance advantages.
The interests of girls and young women count too
Girls' competitions exist because girls would otherwise barely come to performances against boys of the same age. Admitting biological boys without reservation — whether in football, rugby, cycling, competitive swimming or combat sports — undermines the very reason for those competitions to exist. This is not abstract philosophy: it is a question of podium places, scholarships, injury risks in contact sports and the fairness of the entire sporting system for girls.
Safety in contact sports
In contact sports (rugby, football, combat sports, hockey) an additional dimension plays a role: injury risk. World Rugby decided in 2020 on the basis of safety research that transgender women may not play in elite-level women's competitions. For youth competitions too the awareness is growing that protection of girls against injuries is a legitimate interest that may weigh more heavily than an inclusivity claim.
Recreation versus competition
In purely recreational sport the interests are different from those in competitive sport. A child taking part in a gymnastics club or a neighbourhood tournament benefits from joining in and enjoying themselves — and there tailor-made solutions can be found without abolishing the girls' or boys' category in principle. In competitive sport, where places, titles and progression to elite sport are at stake, a clear division by biological sex is the fairest.
Policy on the move
International sports federations are becoming clearer. World Aquatics (swimming), World Athletics, the UCI (cycling) and World Rugby apply restrictions in which biological boys who have been through male puberty may not compete in the women's category. Dutch sports federations lag behind on this point, often under pressure from inclusivity organisations. A renewed debate is under way and desirable.