Sporting Associations Tighten Restrictions on Men Competing in Women’s Sports

Several sporting associations have begun implementing stricter rules limiting the ability of biological men to compete in women’s sports, following a surge in men declaring themselves to be “transgender” so they can easily defeat female rivals.

The Daily Caller reports that such rules were implemented after numerous complaints were made against several prominent examples of men exerting unfair advantages over women. One such case is Laurel Hubbard, a man who has been competing in women’s weightlifting since the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, while another is Will Thomas, now known as “Lia,” competing in swimming against college-aged women.

In 2023, biological men were banned from competing in women’s sports by the international governing bodies for the sports of cricket, fishing, and track and field. A similar ban was enacted for competitive swimming in 2022, due in large part to the Thomas backlash. Will Thomas, who was previously near the bottom of the top 500 college-aged male swimmers in the country, has since dominated women’s events after announcing his “transition,” including winning the 500-yard women’s final in the 2022 NCAA championships.

On November 22nd, the International Cricket Council announced its ban in order to preserve “the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players,” saying that “the Council decided to prioritize fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion.”

The International Angling Sport Federation implemented its ban only after the British national fishing team threatened to stage a boycott of the world championships if a biological male’s participation was not revoked.

In addition, the International Cycling Union announced in May that it would conduct a review of its transgender policies after the women’s division in New Mexico was won by a man; the governing body for cycling in Britain enacted its own ban on May 26th.

In the United States, the Biden Administration has been attempting to force more transgender inclusion in sports and education, announcing new regulations on April 6th that would give “transgender” athletes federal civil rights protections under Title IX. The move was opposed by over two dozen governors in an open letter released on May 12th, calling for the Biden Administration’s Department of Education to rescind the proposal.