Overreaction to Potential Transgender Conflicts

NPR Morning Edition had a number of stories this morning on LGBT and specifically transgender issues. A judge blocked the Obama administration's move to force all public schools to accommodate trans students; religious colleges are dealing with what to do with LGBT students; and NPR reported on the sole gender clinic in North Carolina.

The story I was pondering today was none of these, however. It was a Boston NPR story from earlier this month which caught my attention: Olympic Rules for Transgender Women Athletes are in Flux.

There are some transgender athletes in Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but most of them are flying under the radar. None have been identified in the above article. The story brings up what I believe is the most controversial aspect of transgender people's impact on our society - men who become women and want to compete in sports and use the women's restroom.

The article discusses the difficulty experts have in determining the "right" amount of testosterone, measured in nanomoles per liter of blood. That's right, I just used the word "nanomole!" It's not the avacado dip that grandma made; it's an actual unit of measurement of particles in the blood.

Physicians and rulemakers at the Olympics are trying to determine a measurable testosterone level which is acceptable for a man-turned-woman to have and still be considered a woman. The range seems to be somewhere between 3 and 10 nanomoles, which is just about what I guessed (!)

There is no consensus on the figure because it has not been determined the author points out:

There's the issue of not knowing how many nanomoles of testosterone enhance performance, or by how much. There's no evidence about whether the difference is greater in some sports than in others. Testosterone levels vary during the day and after athletic performance, so when should tests be done? And what is a standard testosterone level for trans women undergoing hormone therapy?

The article did not mention the less controversial transgender people - women-turned-men, or men who became women but were very effeminate to begin with. Even in the sheltered, suburban, un-diverse town where I was raised we had girls in school who accepted their more masculine body types and traditionally male interests. I had a college professor who was a woman-turned-man, but honestly I would not have known unless he had told us! When men decide to look like women it can be strange, but if the person's frame is on the smaller side, has an attractive face, and higher voice, perhaps all or partially with the help of hormone therapy, that person is more likely to be accepted by society.

Opponents of transgender rights have less of a fear of the latter trans people. And I would argue that even the most fundamentalist Christian would not privately condemn two highly attractive straight-looking women who happen to be lesbians showing a little public display of affection. (Of course they would argue that since the Bible is less explicit in its condemnation of lesbians, saving the fire and brimstone for gay men, then two women loving each other is ok).

The fear opponents have is hyper masculine looking women (I'm thinking of the movie To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar where Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes dress up like women) entering a female bathroom like a wolf in sheep's clothing. The other controversy is the one mentioned in the Boston NPR article where masculine women would be competing against what we think of as traditional women.

There are five categories of transgender people I can think of:

1. effeminate men becoming women
2. masculine men becoming women
3. masculine women becoming men
4. feminine women becoming men

Number 2 is the biggest controversy. Would most men using a public men's restroom care if number 3 or 4 walked into that bathroom? Probably not because most men just want to get in there and get out. I have been to plenty of concerts where the women's restroom has such a long line that women just come in and use the men's room. Nobody cared! Would most men be opposed to either number 3 or 4 playing on their athletic team provided they were just as good as the least best male athlete? Again, probably not because it's all about who can compete at the highest level.

I think if social conservatives can get over their fear of transgender people, and sports rulemakers and doctors can agree on an accurate measure of how feminine a male-to-female (number 2) athlete needs to be to compete, we will be closer to solving the problem of transgender rights.