I'm a professional basketball player. Trans women aren't a threat.
I have played basketball for as long as I can remember. The game shaped who I am, gave me opportunities to travel, forge lifelong friendships, and use my platform to advocate for others. Now that spotlight has turned on my teammates and me – not to celebrate our sport, but to police who belongs.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently announced a binding policy requiring every woman who seeks to compete in the Olympics to undergo sex verification testing. After years of dedication and preparation, the final hurdle to represent your country should not be proving to a panel of strangers that you are the woman you say you are.
This invasive policy effectively bars transgender women and many athletes with intersex variations from competing.
Sex testing of women is not new – it traces back decades and was only formally changed after sustained pressure from medical groups, athletes’ advocates, and the IOC’s own Athletes’ Commission following the 1996 Games.
In 2021, the IOC released a framework asserting there is no automatic........
