Who: Case Studies

Women of Color Athletes

There have been many cases of female athletes of color being falsely accused of being born men because of their dominance in their respective sports, largely because of how women of color's bodies (and especially Black women's bodies) are viewed as too muscular or not feminine enough, a belief that is rooted in racist views about Black women and women of color.

Toby Melville/Reuters

Caster Semenya

In 2009, 18-year-old South African Caster Semenya was barred from competing for 11 months after winning the 800-meter race in the World Championships, while World Athletics mandated that her testosterone levels be checked.

She has been fighting against these restrictions for years, but in 2019, she was banned from competing in the 800-meter race, her favored event.

World Athletics, the governing body for track and field, claimed that her testosterone levels — which are affected by a condition known as differences in sex development, or DSDs, which gives her a higher testosterone level than the average cis woman — gave her an athletic advantage in women's events, comparable to a man competing in women's events.

Semenya was assigned female at birth and was raised as a girl, but her success in track provoked scrutiny into her testosterone levels under the assumption that she would not be able to be as fast without the "advantage" of testosterone.

She has said that the rules about who can and cannot participate in sports have restricted the rights she has experienced in every other aspect of her life, and have restricted her right to practice her chosen profession.

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Imane Khelif

In the 2024 Olympics, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif faced transphobic backlash after winning, with speculation that she is actually a man.

The year prior, she had been banned from the Boxing World Championships by the International Boxing Association, a Russian-dominated body that has clashed with the International Olympic Committee for years and refused to provide information on the tests other than saying she had elevated levels of testosterone.

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Dutee Chand

In 2014, Indian sprinter Dutee Chand was ruled ineligible to race in the 2014 Commonwealth Games after a hormone test found her to have higher levels of testosterone, and she was found to have hyperandrogenism (which causes higher testosterone levels). She challenged the ruling, which resulted in the regulation being dropped for two years due to insufficient evidence of advantage.

Just like Semenya, Chand refused to undergo treatment to reduce her testosterone levels.

In a statement released by her lawyers, Chand stated, "What I had to face last year was not fair. I have a right to run and compete. But that right was taken away from me. I was humiliated for something that I can’t be blamed for. I am glad that no other female athlete will have to face what I have faced, thanks to this verdict.”

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Brittney Griner

Brittney Griner, an American basketball player who plays in the Women's National Basketball Association, has been subjected to rumors and questioning over the years about her gender because of her height, athletic build, and deep voice.

Griner is a lesbian and has appeared more masculine than her peers her whole life, even being bullied for it as a child.

She has embraced her masculinity, preferring not to dress "girlie" but still be both masculine and feminine. Unfortunately, this also contributes to confusion and accusations about her gender.

Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Serena Williams

Serena Williams is well known for her prowess and success as a tennis player. And because of this skill and fame, she has been the subject of conspiracies that she was born a man.

"People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms, or because I'm strong," she said. "I was different to Venus: She was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular — and beautiful, but, you know, it was just totally different."

In a letter addressed to her mother that she published on Reddit in 2017, she said, " It has been said I don't belong in Women's sports -- that I belong in Men's -- because I look stronger than many other women do. (No, I just work hard and I was born with this badass body and proud of it)."

She went on to acknowledge how she and her mom have dealt with reporters, announcers, and other people who were "were too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman," saying that they showed people that women can and do look like Williams does

"We are curvy, strong, muscular, tall, small, just to name a few, and all the same: we are women and proud!"

Barbra Banda

In the wake of Barbra Banda being named the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year for 2024, Banda received a wave of online backlash. There were countless accusations that she had been born male or that she should not be allowed to play women's sports, including accusations from JK Rowling and the former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies.

Banda is Zambian and currently plays in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the United States, and in a game earlier this year, transphobic and racist language was directed toward Banda from someone in the crowd.

Following Eddy's remarks, the captains of her team condemned her essay, saying it did not represent the views of the team. In response, Jennifer Sey, founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, called Banda male and claimed that there are several men in the NWSL who aren't trans, but "men with DSD," or "differences in sexual development." Banda was born female and lived her entire life as a girl and has not failed any genetic or hormone tests, lending no credence to Sey's claim.

Similarly, Mayra Ramírez, who is Colombian and plays soccer in England, was the subject of online debate about her gender on the basis that she doesn't look "feminine" enough.

Another player in the NWSL, Elizabeth Eddy, a white woman, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Post (which she originally posted on X, formerly known as Twitter) where she argued that the NWSL should take stricter measures to keep intersex and transgender athletes out of the league and make the league one only for women, excluding intersex and trangender women from this definition of women. She suggested mandating that all players must have been born with ovaries or using the SRY gene test to test for the development of "male-developmental pathways" during fetal growth. Given the abuse directed toward Banda, as well as to Ramírez and other players of color, Eddy's remarks are not only transphobic but racist.

Trans Athletes

Mack Beggs

Texas high school wrestler, Mack Beggs, was forced to compete in girls' wrestling leagues because the University Interscholastic League — the athletic governing body in Texas — required that athletes compete with the gender they were assigned at birth. Because Beggs is a trans man, and thus was assigned female at birth, he was required to compete in the girls' leagues despite having started testosterone injections.

Brett Davis/USA Today Sports

Lia Thomas

In 2022, Lia Thomas became the first transgender swimmer to win a major US college title.

This victory prompted considerable backlash, including many who speculated or outright assumed that Thomas transitioned for an advantage in competitions. In response to such accusations, Thomas replied, "I transitioned to be happy, to be true to myself."

Following her achievement, some people proposed that a third category be created for trans athletes, separate from the ones for men and for women. Thomas maintains that this is others trans people and denies them the respect and opportunities to play and compete that is given to cis athletes.

Quinn

Quinn, a player in the NWSL, came out as nonbinary in 2020, becoming the first openly nonbinary professional soccer player and Olympian.

To them, coming out was important for them because they were tired of hearing the wrong named being used for them by announcers, and they wanted to be known as their true self in the sport they loved.

Quinn has said, "I thought I was playing the best soccer I ever had right after I came out and I think that's just a testament to being your authentic self, being open and being able to express yourself on and off the field."

More recently, Quinn has criticized the bans against trans women competing in sports and maintains that the fight is not over until all trans people feel comfortable and accepted in sports, until they can play the sports they love authentically, just as they can.

Naomi Baker/Self

Sydney Claire Photography/NBC News

Schuyler Bailar

Schuyler Bailar was the first transgender athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team. He transitioned at the risk of no longer being able to become an NCAA champion on the Harvard women's swim team. He ultimately decided that it was more important for him to be true to himself, and ended up swimming on the men's team, going on to rank in the top 34 percent of Division 1 swimmers and top 15 percent of all NCAA divisions after his final swim.

Because he could not find any examples of trans athletes, he made it his mission to be that representation for young trans athletes.

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