Debating transgender athletes in sports

Should transgender athletes be allowed to compete in sports consistent with their gender identity or should it be based on their biology at birth? During KIRO Radio’s Gee and Ursula Show on Monday, Gee said someone who is biologically a boy would have an unfair physical advantage when competing against girls. Gee suggested either having a separate category for trans athletes or having everyone compete against each other.

I disagreed, mainly because I think it would be more harmful for trans students to be reminded, once again, that they’re different and don’t belong. I also don’t think anyone would go through the difficulty of transitioning, just to compete in sports. But we both agreed we have a lot more to learn.

One of our listeners posted on our Facebook page that he was hurt by Gee’s comments on the show. Although he called Gee out on some of his positions, he encouraged us to continue talking about this difficult topic. Gee not only apologized, but we invited the listener, Stefan, onto our show. Here is our conversation:

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