Penna Dexter

The International Olympic Committee has allowed transgender athletes to compete since 2004. The first to participate openly did so in Tokyo’s summer games in 2020. Several competed this year in Beijing. The rules for transgender women — biological men — competing in women’s sports are that they must demonstrate testosterone below a certain threshold for 12 months before competing. And they can only qualify after four years post-transition, at the earliest. But it still isn’t fair. In the run-up to the Olympics, male swimmer Lia Thomas, who swims for the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s team, swept the Ivy League women’s meet. More than a dozen teammates protested. Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler spotlights Lia — birth name: William — in her U.S. Senate campaign ad. The spot, called “Coach,” features short-hair/long hair before-and-after pictures followed by Rep. Hartzler’s dialogue:

“Meet William Thomas, ranked number 462 in men’s swimming. Meet Lia Thomas, ranked number one in women’s swimming. Only one problem. It’s the same person. Some people are afraid to talk about it. Not me.” She continues: “I ran and coached girls’ track, and I won’t look away while woke liberals destroy women’s sports.”

She’s got science on her side. Michelle Cretella and Quentin Van Meter lead the American College of Pediatricians. Dr. Cretella is a board certified pediatrician. Dr. Van Meter is clinical associate professor of pediatrics at both the Emory University and Morehouse Schools of Medicine. In an article for The Daily Signal, they point to two peer-reviewed studies that challenge the IOC’s criteria for allowing males who identify as female to compete in women’s sports. One, published in the journal Sports Medicine, found that “the muscular advantage enjoyed by transgender women [men on estrogen] is only minimally reduced” after 12 months of testosterone suppression. The doctors cite a second review article which found “the male strength advantage to remain after three years of testosterone suppression.” Kudos to Vicky Hartzler for running on this issue.