In high school, the topic of competing in sports such as football, basketball, track & field, water polo, and tennis may arise. For example, at Santiago High School, we are huge on athletics for both boys and girls.
The dilemma of having transgender athletes competing has been such a controversial and problematic topic that it became a key element of President Trump’s presidential campaign and has been avidly protested to exclude them from any competitions. The Trump Administration firmly stands with the long-standing belief that there are only two genders: male and female – nothing in between. The Trump Administration has also financially endorsed forbidding transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. Even though the Trump Administration stands firmly behind this statement, many around the world do not share this stance.
Cases have also been brought recently to the Supreme Court, with the court even considering whether those who have transitioned gender are eligible to compete in sports. Going into 2026, this has become more of a national issue than a small-town concern. A majority of the nine Supreme Court justices, a 6-3 conservative majority, have decided to consider upholding transgender girls and women to compete in female sports. During more than three hours of deliberation, the Supreme Court seems willing to uphold state bans on transgender athletes.
The arguments being made were fixated on state laws in West Virginia and Idaho that ban transgender women and girls from competing on sports teams aligned with their sexual identity. The justices weighed everything: how to define a woman, fairness in women’s sports, the definition of sex, and whether they should send the case back to the lower courts.
One of the justices, Brett Kavanaugh, strongly supports including more women in sports, regardless of whether they are biologically female. “Given that half the states are allowing it, allowing transgender girls and women to participate, [and] about half are not,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked, “why would we at this point, just the role of this court, jump in and try to constitutionalize a rule for the whole country while there’s still, as you say, uncertainty and debate?” Justice Kavanaugh has a background as a long-standing girls’ basketball coach for his own children at their school, and he called the growth of female athletics ‘inspiring’.
While many defended the rise of women’s athletics, several Supreme Court justices were staunchly opposed. Justice Samuel Alito brought into the spotlight female athletes across the country who have been voicing their own opinions in opposing transgender athletes competing, whether alongside them or competing against them. “What do you say about them? Are they bigots?” Alito addressed the court. “Are they deluded in thinking they are subjected to unfair competition?”
The Olympic Committee’s main argument is that sports should be accessible to all and that fairness should be the leading principle in sports participation. The committee debates that it isn’t fair if an athlete is required to be confronted with unreasonable safety risks or a decreased chance of victory based on sex-linked physiology.
One example of a transgender athlete who made headlines is Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship, taking the title in the 500-yard freestyle in 2022. While competing as a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, she shattered records across multiple events. Although Thomas was breaking records, this prompted the NCAA to face lawsuits and reconsider its rules. World Aquatics led to the decision to bar Thomas from competing in women’s aquatics. Because she was barred from competing in women’s aquatic sports, this led to legal proceedings between Lia Thomas and World Aquatics in 2024.
One athlete who competed against Thomas spoke out against letting transgender women participate in sports: Riley 
Gaines. Riley Gaines is a former collegiate swimmer turned conservative political activist who is working to preserve women’s sports for biologically born women. In 2022, Riley Gaines tied with Thomas in the 200-yard race at a championship. Since then, she has spoken out against allowing biologically born men to participate in races that are only for women. While she has her own podcast, “Gaines Like Girls,” and has written her own book, “Swimming Against the Current”, she has also been attacked by what she recalled to be “a man in a dress.” At San Francisco University, Gaines spoke out on how she was struck by a transgender woman twice, as a violent riot of people trapped her in a room for three hours. Because she spoke out on the dangers of gender ideology, the “leftist agitators” that attacked her for speaking the truth – that men are not women and that men should not be allowed in women’s locker rooms – wanted her to be silenced.
A single mistake can have irreversible consequences and cause damage, as in Payton McNabb’s case. Payton McNabb is a former volleyball player turned women’s sports ambassador who passionately argues that transgender individuals should be ineligible to compete in sports. McNabb’s volleyball career headed towards an unexpected close due to the fact that she was hit in the head with a volleyball by a transgender athlete, leading to her unconsciousness. The opposing team was forced to forfeit, while McNabb was faced with irreparable damage. The sheer impact left on McNabb left her with numerous injuries that left her unable to participate in the sport that she loved: impaired vision, partial facial paralysis, depression, balance issues, and anxiety.
Where the topic of transgender athletes sits, there’s a biological unfairness between boys and girls in the sports entertainment world: men are biologically stronger and are more than capable of overpowering women. In fact, that will likely happen. Men typically outperform women by 10-30%, according to science. If this equation is switched around, then what is the point of even competing if you already know you’ll lose?
To others, it’s not even a battle worth fighting because of the significant amount of muscle men gain. Men gain a definite increase in testosterone, whereas women do not, which leads to the huge amount of muscle mass men develop.
If you think about the positive aspects of sports, regardless of what kind of sport you play, it’s all about the thrill, the joy you receive from it, and the hope that you might win.
Imagine: you head out onto the track, swimming pool, field, or whatever kind of setting the sport might be set in, and you see a transgender athlete who might have the possibility to take advantage of all of those who might be there. This individual could win the entire competition. How would an athlete feel? Two words: immediate defeat.
As the Supreme Court case is still ongoing, think about this: Based on the facts, testimonials, and science on the differences between men and women, has the definition of a girl and what it means to be a girl lost all meaning? How could this affect high school sports as the case goes on?
