Abstract

In October 2020, new participation guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport were released by nine Australian sporting bodies. Controversially, these guidelines permit trans women (TW, who identify as female but were born male) to play female sports if they meet serum testosterone and social benchmarks. This new category of player in female sport raises genuine concerns about fairness and physical safety. This review presents a summary of recent biological, sport science, and endocrine research on performance and physical changes in transitioning transgender adults. Although such research is in its infancy, findings point to ongoing superiority of TW’s performance and innate biological advantages compared to cis women, despite lowered testosterone with hormone suppression therapy. We assert that sports bodies should pay greater heed to the biological facts and continue to seek research to support participation policies. In the meantime, we argue that the current transgender participation guidelines be withdrawn, and that sports organizations explore other fairer solutions to facilitate inclusive participation for trans athletes.