Trump's transgender ban in sport: 5 voices from the sports world

US transgender triathlete Chris Mosier paints a bleak picture for the future of LGBTQ+ rights in the USA. He sees the ordinance as a kick-off for further measures. In an interview with CNN, the 45-year-old emphasizes that he fears increasing discrimination against the transgender community in terms of access to the healthcare system, safety in schools and adjustments to school curricula. The first transgender athlete to represent the USA in international competitions continues: "There is no evidence that transgender athletes have an advantage over other athletes." Trans athletes play sports for the same reasons as everyone else: "For the love of the game, to be part of a team, to challenge ourselves, and most importantly, to have fun when it comes to youth. And every young person deserves the opportunity to be authentic and play the sport they love without denying any part of themselves." In his own words, the activist is the first transgender athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games in the gender he declares. Back in 2016, Nike launched a commercial as part of its Unlimited Campaign during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, showing the transgender triathlete in training.

In 1976, Bruce Jenner won the gold medal in the decathlon at the Olympic Games; today, transgender woman Caitlyn Jenner is an ardent admirer of Trump and his executive order. Born a man herself, the American came out in 2015 and subsequently underwent gender reassignment surgery. Now 75 years old, she is vehemently committed to ensuring that there are "no men in women's sport".

In a television interview with Fox News in November 2024, she said: "It would be unfair for me to compete against women in sport." She cites the biological advantages of transgender women who have experienced male puberty as an argument. She is primarily concerned with the issue of "fairness". It cannot be right that transgender women receive sports scholarships and take part in competitions. "That kills women's sport" and would prevent young girls and women from benefiting from sports funding at all. In December 2024, the TV star added: "I will not stop fighting for this common sense issue" and congratulated the LPGA Tour for its stricter gender policy. From 2025, female athletes who have gone through male puberty will be excluded. Trigger for the change: the successes of transgender golfer Hailey Davidson.

Before competing at the Millrose Games in New York, the non-binary athlete recently proudly announced: "In a few days, I'll be standing on the starting line of a women's race at one of the biggest indoor competitions in the world, running a mile in front of a sold-out crowd in New York City, and you know what? I will STILL not identify myself as a woman. The stadium announcers and NBC announcers will also pronounce my pronouns correctly, and I will have coaches, teammates, friends, family, and an entire community cheering me on while recognizing and respecting my identity as a trans person." Nikki Hiltz also says that a signed paper makes the lives of trans athletes more difficult than necessary, but it can "NEVER erase our existence or our joy". Even though the decree is primarily aimed at trans women, "and even though that's not my identity, I am fully behind every trans person who is active in sports. We are part of it. I hope I can be a little beacon of hope and a form of resistance for all trans athletes this weekend at the Millrose Games." The middle-distance runner has a years-long battle behind her: in 2021, she came out as non-binary and began using the pronouns they/them. The US American then faced hostility, hate and fake news - including accusations that she was a "biological man" and competed in the women's race. In 2024, Nikki Hiltz comes closer to her big dream and makes it to the final at the Olympic Games in Paris.

"Some critics of transgender athletes claim they have an unfair advantage in sports, but that's not what the research shows" - these are the opening words of American martial artist Fallon Fox's Instagram post. And she complains to CNN that "they finally delivered the real science on transgender athletes after we were banned". The ex-professional athlete is referring to a report by the US broadcaster. It states that while research is limited and ongoing, a 2017 study published in the journal Sports Medicine found "no direct or consistent research findings" that would prove that transgender people have an athletic advantage. It goes on to say that a more recent research report from October 2023 concluded that gender differences develop after puberty, but that many of them "are reduced, if not eliminated, over time by gender reassignment hormone therapy".

Mack Beggs is the protagonist of the award-winning documentary "Changing the Game", which follows three high school athletes in sports competitions, in their private lives and as transgender teenagers. The teenager tells his story as a transgender boy who wins the state championship in wrestling for girls at the age of 17. Mack actually wanted to compete in the boys' division, but state policy in Texas at the time already required students to compete according to their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity. So he only had the option of wrestling with girls or not at all. The young athlete was met with a wave of outrage and had to deal with enormous media attention. Mack Beggs is now also committed to the rights of the LBGTQ+ community. In the run-up to the discussions about Trump's executive order, he gave an interview for Skynews and spoke of an "irrational fear of transgender people in sport". In his reaction to the executive order, however, he makes one thing clear: "No law is going to stop me. You'll have to kill me before I stop being who I am. I'm not afraid. Come and take it."