DEI researchers make new transgender sports ‘equity’ claim

The liberal media are hailing a new study they claim shows trans athletes may not enjoy a competitive advantage over biological women in sports. 

In fact, the study’s overall claims on athletic performance by transgender are not supported by the data shown in the research. 

What the research did show was transgender hormones affect body composition in both lean muscle mass and fat over time – exactly how trans hormones are intended to work medically. 

But one of the features of the research also highlights its fatal flaw: it has a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statement at the beginning, declaring the group includes “LGBTQIA2S+” researchers who aim “to promote equity in health research,” not the neutral advancement of science. 

The study by Brazil’s Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP at Universidade de Sao Paulo’s Center of Lifestyle Medicine studied body composition and physical fitness in transgender versus nontrans populations. 

The findings showed as a person continued hormone therapy, their body composition or physical fitness better correlated with their new gender identity versus their biological identity. 

“The convergence of transgender women’s functional performance with cisgender women, particularly in strength and aerobic capacity, challenges assumptions about inherent athletic advantages derived solely from [gender affirming hormone therapy] or residual lean mass differences,” researchers wrote in the study, according to the UK’s Independent. 

One problem with this conclusion is that no one is contending gender change hormones confer some sort of an athletic advantage. The contention is that biology confers the advantage. 

Also, the use of the word “solely” subtly implies “inherent athletic advantages” exist in transgender athletes, although the sentence doesn’t explicitly state why those inherent athletic advantages exist. 

That’s because researchers hide those advantages by using the word “relative” to describe fat and muscle. 

While they show a correlation between fat and lean muscle that over time better represents a woman’s body for those getting feminizing hormone therapy, they ignore that those measurements are “relative” to total size, which is already a baked-in advantage for a biological male due to biology, critics note. 

Another problem with the study? 

Researchers chose to measure strength in part by “grip strength,” a measurement almost exclusively intended for older adults and clinical populations recovering from some sort of health problem. 

Grip strength has no correlation to athletic performance. 

The research certainly affirms that, over time, hormones from trans therapy alter body composition and fitness levels more representative of their acquired identity versus their biological identity. 

But that’s hardly revolutionary. It’s been widely known for decades. 

Indeed, it’s the impetus for trans hormone therapy in the first place: hormones can make men’s bodies take on a more feminine appearance and women take on a more masculine appearance. 

If hormone therapy didn’t do those things, there would be no basis for transgender medicine. 

Additionally, the study didn’t look at athletes. It just concentrated on the general population, using general fitness measures or body composition. 

“Overall, about 50 studies were analyzed, involving 6,485 people – 2,943 trans women, 2,309 trans men, 568 cis women and 665 cis men, falling in an age range of 14 to 41,” the Independent wrote. 

The age range also presents a problem. A 14-year-old and a 41-year-old are not meaningfully comparable on strength, VO₂ max (the maximum amount of oxygen used during exercise) or body composition, even within the same sex. 

Notably, Brazil, where the study was done, is home to one of the largest populations of transgender individuals in the world, with an estimated population of 4 million out of 200 million citizens. 

And it has one of the largest medical communities dedicated to transgender medicine in the world. 

The study was made possible in part by a government grant from FAPESP, a public foundation funded by the taxpayers of São Paulo, which represents 22% of Brazil’s total population. 

That’s likely why the study undermines its neutrality right at the start with this DEI statement: 

“Equity, diversity and inclusion statement 

“Our research team included three women and five men, representing junior, midcareer and senior researchers from a range of disciplines. All authors are based in the Global South. Our identities include membership in marginalised communities: three as women and one as part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. This systematic review and meta-analysis focused on physical fitness and body composition in transgender compared with cisgender individuals, addressing a significant gap in the literature and aiming to promote equity in health research.” 

With the study, researchers certainly promoted “equity” in health research. 

But they didn’t show transgender athletes don’t enjoy a significant biological advantage, which is the only question that matters.