[생글기자 코너] The Transgender Athlete Dilemma in Women's Sports

While respect for an individual's self-identification is crucial, maintaining fairness and integrity in women"s sports is equally important.

Recently, the debate over permitting transwomen athletes to compete in women’s sports has ignited due to an incident involving Na Hwarin, a transwoman who won a national cycling event. Those in favor argue that prohibiting certain gender identities from participating in sports can lead to unequal treatment. However, adhering strictly to this argument could potentially compromise the right of biological women to participate in fair competition and to preserve integrity in women's sports.

It seems unjust for biological females who, after strenuous training over years or decades, are overshadowed in competitions by transwomen, who were assigned male at birth. Having experienced male puberty, transwomen inherently possess physiological advantages over biological women. For a female athlete to surpass a male athlete with these inherent physiological and anatomical advantages is a steep challenge. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health substantiates this, indicating significant differences in skeletal structure, lung volume, and muscle mass between males and females.

While respect for an individual’s self-identification is crucial, maintaining fairness and integrity in women's sports is equally important. Female athletes, born with female bodies, deserve the right to participate in fair competition, without the potential intrusion of transwomen athletes.

이예준 생글기자(Grace International Academy 10학년)