At a recent school board meeting, I stood up to speak—not to argue, but to ask our community to refocus on the real challenges facing our students. What I witnessed that night was deeply troubling: a growing effort to target trans students and trans athletes, often based on fear, misinformation, and political rhetoric. We owe it to ourselves—and especially to our youth—to do better.
Let’s start with the argument I heard more than once: “Men should not compete against women.” On that, we agree. Men and women have biological differences that, in competitive sports, require clear boundaries to ensure fairness. But trans women are not “men competing against women.” They are individuals who, after deep personal struggle, have made the extremely difficult decision to transition—often after years, even decades, of psychological distress and marginalization.
Transition is not something anyone undertakes lightly. It typically involves rigorous mental health evaluations, hormone therapy, and often significant social and medical risks. Trans women who undergo hormone replacement therapy experience a dramatic decrease in testosterone levels—reducing muscle mass, strength, and endurance to levels much closer to those of cisgender women. Sports organizations like the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee have developed guidelines around these transitions for exactly this reason: to balance fairness with inclusion.
Another concern I heard was that trans people—particularly trans women—make locker rooms unsafe for women. Let me be clear: There is no credible evidence that trans people pose a danger to others in public restrooms or changing areas. In fact, trans people themselves are far more likely to be the targets of violence and harassment in these spaces. Suggesting that trans women are a threat reinforces dangerous stereotypes and ignores the real problem: the culture of misogyny and violence that already exists—and that no trans person created.
If safety is truly our concern, we should be talking about how to prevent sexual harassment, enforce consent education, and build respectful spaces for everyone. Frankly, most women would feel far safer in a locker room with a trans woman than with a certain male politician who has bragged about sexually assaulting women—and still holds office.
We can and should continue to have thoughtful discussions about fairness in sports. But let’s base those conversations on science, compassion, and truth—not fear. Let’s stop punching down one of the most vulnerable groups in our community and start lifting all people up.
Janice Mundee
Paso Robles
This article appears in Jun 5-15, 2025.