World Athletics bans transgender women athletes from female sports
12-time NCAA All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, joined by competitive cyclist Holly Lavesser, argued the ban is ‘basic common sense’ and not ‘anti-trans’ but ‘pro-woman.’
Riley Gaines, a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum, joined "America Reports" Friday with competitive cyclist Holly Lavesser to discuss the World Athletics ban for transgender women. Gaines signed the Supreme Court amicus brief and argues that she was "discriminated against" on the basis of her sex by competing against a trans woman.
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RILEY GAINES: This is a matter of basic common sense and basic fairness. People will often label this as something that's anti-trans or exclusionary. But in reality, it's not those things. It's pro-woman and quite the contrary, it's inclusive. And we're including the women who Title IV was created to protect. Of course, Title IV was created to stop discrimination on the basis of sex. But that is not what I faced in my sport. I was very blatantly discriminated on the basis of sex, and we're seeing that as a common trend around the country of girls of all ages, all sports, all divisions.
WORLD ATHLETICS TO EXCLUDE TRANSGENDER FEMALE ATHLETES FROM WOMEN'S COMPETITIONS
World Athletics on Thursday announced its decision to exclude transgender female athletes who have been through male puberty from world rankings competitions.
The international governing body for track and field and other running-related athletic events said its decision would have no consequences for athletes right now because there are no transgender athletes competing internationally.
"World Athletics conducted a consultation period with various stakeholders in the first two months of this year, including Member Federations, the Global Athletics Coaches Academy and Athletes’ Commission, the IOC as well as representative transgender and human rights groups," the organization said.
"It became apparent that there was little support within the sport for the option that was first presented to stakeholders, which required transgender athletes to maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for 24 months to be eligible to compete internationally in the female category.
"In terms of DSD [Differences of Sexual Development] regulations, World Athletics has more than 10 years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that these athletes bring to the female category.
"However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics.
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"In these circumstances, the Council decided to prioritize fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion."
Fox News senior editor Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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