March 31, 2024 The Female Category published Mariah Burton Nelson’s open letter, “No Risk of Journalism at USA Today,” after the news outlet ran a feature story that profiles four transgender athletes and claims the goal of women’s sports advocates is to “demonize & spread misinformation” about trans athletes. The post Open Letter to USA Today appeared first on Women's Sports Policy Working Group ..read more

by Donna Lopiano in Forbes, January 17, 2023 “It’s important for us to listen” to the girls and women who describe what it’s like to compete against transgender athletes with male bodies, writes Lopiano in a new op-ed in Forbes. The voices depicted in a new report by Fair Play for Women “should be received with the same respect and consideration as the voices of transgender athletes.” Trans-identified male swimmer Lia Thomas (l) with Riley Gaines at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in 2022. Gaines has since become an outspoken advocate for female-only competitions. Photo credit: USA ..read more

from the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group January 2, 2024 In response to your recent blog post — Once and For All: This Is Why We Support Trans Women and Girls in Sports [i] — first, we suspect the “once and for all” headline implies that the NWLC is rightly being challenged on your stance in favor of male athletes[ii] over female athletes. The public position is shifting, with 69 percent now agreeing that, to be fair to women and girls, trans athletes (like all other athletes) should compete only on teams that align with their sex. Increasingly, female athletes are speaking out, as are tra ..read more

The General Public Now Understands That Puberty Provides a Game-Changing Advantage to Males. What About Younger Children? Here’s what the recent research shows: Even pre-puberty, males have substantial testosterone-based advantages, which begin before birth. In utero, male fetuses receive an infusion of testosterone that is later associated with young boys’ somewhat greater strength and somewhat greater propensity for aggression – the androgenic effects of testosterone. For example, fitness data from over 85,000 children in Australia showed that, compared to nine-year-old females, nine-ye ..read more

by Martina Navratilova (Published by Genspect, August 30, 2023) Five-Years-Later_-What-Ive-Learned-About-Women-and-Men-in-Sports-—-Genspect-1Download The post Five Years Later: What I’ve Learned About Women and Men in Sports appeared first on Women's Sports Policy Working Group ..read more

as of July 2023 The Women’s Sports Policy Working Group is a bipartisan think tank composed of champion athletes, coaches, lawyers, writers, and sports administrators who have dedicated much of our careers to addressing sexism in sport. Since 2019, when we began meeting to discuss the phenomenon of male athletes who identify as trans and want to compete against women, our position has evolved – based on our discussions, on scientific research, and on the changing environment. Ways Our Position Has Not Changed We remain dedicated to affirming and strengthening girls’ and women’s legal right to ..read more

May 15, 2023 Champion-Women-WSPWG-Comments-Response-to-Biden-Title-IX-5-15-2023Download The post WSPWG and Champion Women Submit Comments to Biden Admin: Girls’ and Women’s Sports are for Females. Period. appeared first on Women's Sports Policy Working Group ..read more

Martina objects to an article in The Nation, May 12, 2023 File photo Nov. 8, 2021, Hector Vivas/Getty Images for WTA The post “Misogyny in pure form” – Martina Navratilova expresses anger at accusation of transphobia in swimming (article) appeared first on Women's Sports Policy Working Group ..read more

Interview with Julie Bindel, May 3, 2023 The post Tennis Legend Martina Navratilova on Lia Thomas, Female Athletes’ Rights to Female-Only Spaces (podcast) appeared first on Women's Sports Policy Working Group ..read more

“Sports is about fairness and rules.” April 26, 2023 (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Women in Sports Foundation, 2019) The post Olympic Champion Donna de Varona Responds to Lia Thomas’ Feminism Comments on TMZ (TV) appeared first on Women's Sports Policy Working Group ..read more