Equity or Discrimination: Addressing Legal Challenges to Transgender Participation in U.S. High School and College Sport

Abstract

The visibility of transgender athletes in elite sport recently prompted concern surrounding the potential competitive advantages for transgender women who underwent through male puberty before transitioning. In the United States, several states passed legislation banning transgender women from high school and/or college sport for the purpose of removing this advantage and keeping sport equitable for cisgender women. While these laws seek to protect women’s sports, does the exclusion of transgender athletes from sports connected to their chosen gender identity lead to another form of sex discrimination? This paper addresses the legality of transgender participation bans and related lawsuits. As these legislative changes and the lawsuits challenging them are on-going, this paper presents a snapshot and assessment of these policies in the United States in 2021, whether they are likely to withstand challenge under the current legal system, and how sport organizations may respond when the law is not clear.

Keywords:

• Transgender
• discrimination
• policy
• interscholastic athletics
• legislation

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest has to be reported.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lauren McCoy Coffey

Lauren McCoy Coffey (J.D., Marquette University Law School) is an assistant professor of sport management and the program director for the Sport and Fitness Administration graduate program at Winthrop University where she teaches sport law. Her research interests include gender equity through Title IX and other legislation, addressing governance/institutional liability for discrimination in sport, and athlete’s rights. Her work has appeared in such journals as the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, the Sport Management and Education Journal, and the Marquette Sports Law Review among others.