correction: this article originally published may 4, 2021, contained misleading information. it has now been corrected and updated.  the claim that there is no evidence trans girls perform better in sports better than cisgender girls was put forward by dr veronica ivy, a doctor of philosophy. there has been no peer-reviewed study to support the claim.  ivy’s claim that the data that’s currently available doesn’t actually show that transgender girls have the upper hand when it comes to performing in sports alongside cisgender girls was not supported by any evidence.  advert 10  ted eytan/abc news  a doctor of philosophy has said that there’s no evidence that transgender girls perform better in sports than their cisgender peers.  dr. veronica ivy said that the data that’s currently available doesn’t actually show that transgender girls have the upper hand when it comes to performing in sports alongside cisgender girls.  she added that until there’s data proving this, transgender girls should be allowed to compete with cisgender girls.  advert 10  tmz  however, dr. ivy – who has a phd in philosophy but who is not a medical doctor – did acknowledge that there is a difference in performance between biologically-born boys and girls in the world of sports, but the reason for this is still speculated. it’s believed it could be biological, sociological or a combination of both, tmz reports.  addressing whether it’s testosterone in men that makes them perform better, dr. ivy said on tmz live:  the truth is, we don’t know [what makes men better at sports compared to women]. but we do know now, finally, after all these years, that it isn’t as simple as natural testosterone. that is not the reason. there are elite world championship level men with natural testosterone below the women’s average, and they’re competing at no disadvantage to men with 100 times as much testosterone. so there are certainly, maybe, some biological reasons for men, on average, being bigger, stronger, faster than women, but we do know that there are also social reasons.  advert 10  pa images  dr. ivy went on to describe competition in sports as a ‘human right’, and the ongoing issues transgender people are facing in the sports world is because people continue to compare men to women and girls to boys, instead of transgender women to cisgender women, and so on.  she said, ‘if we’re talking about trans girls in girl’s sport, then we have to talk about the difference between trans girls and cisgender girls – not boys and girls.’  dr. ivy’s comments come after several us states banned transgender girls from competing in girl’s sports out of concerns that they have an unfair advantage. these rules have been implemented in states such as mississippi, tennessee and kansas.  advert 10  pa images  it also comes after caitlyn jenner said that biologically-born boys shouldn’t be able to compete in girl’s sports. she said, ‘this is a question of fairness. that’s why i oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls’ sports in school. it just isn’t fair. and we have to protect girls’ sports in our schools.’  she’s since received criticism for her comments as many expected her, as a trans woman herself, to be more supportive.
correction: no evidence trans girls perform better in sports than cisgender girls, says doctor