Caitlyn Jenner Says “Biological Boys Should Not Compete Against Women”
Transgender Caitlyn whose birth name was Bruce Jenner, identified as male during her athletic career. She retired from competition in 1976 and announced her gender transition some 40 years later.
The former male Olympian argued that University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas should not “be able to compete” in the NCAA.
“The NCAA Board of Governors on Wednesday voted in support of a sport-by-sport approach to transgender participation that preserves the opportunity for transgender student-athletes while balancing fairness, inclusion, and safety for all who compete,” the organization said Thursday.
“We are steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the fostering of fairness across college sports,” said John DeGioia, chair of the board and Georgetown president. ‘It is important that NCAA member schools, conferences, and college athletes compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment and can move forward with a clear understanding of the new policy.”
Jenner said she does not think Thomas’ participation in women’s sports is fair or good for the transgender community, adding that “we need to protect women’s sports.”
“She knows when she’s swimming she’s beating the competition by two laps. She was born a biological boy,” Jenner said. “She was raised as a biological boy. Her cardiovascular system is bigger, her respiratory system is bigger, her hands are bigger, she can swim faster. That’s a known.”
A study published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that trans women had a 15–31 percent athletic advantage compared to cisgender women and retained a 9 percent faster mean run speed after one year of testosterone suppression.
Women’s sports advocates and parents at Penn recently spoke out against the NCAA and its rules on transgender student-athlete participation. Rules require trans women athletes to undergo at least a year of testosterone suppression treatment before competing on a women’s team.
Under the newest NCAA guidelines, “transgender student-athletes will need to document sport-specific testosterone levels beginning four weeks before their sport’s championship selections,” and “starting with the 2022-23 academic year, transgender student-athletes will need documented levels at the beginning of their season and a second documentation six months after the first.”
“We have to protect women’s sports,” Jenner said adding that the NCAA’s rules on testosterone levels do not work.
“Lia Thomas in her event as a guy, she was ranked 462 in the world,” the former gubernatorial candidate of California said. “As a woman, she’s ranked number one in the world, so obviously it’s not working. So, they need to change the rules. Well, they [NCAA] kicked the can down the road a few weeks ago and said that the governing bodies are going to make the rules.”
“USA swimming came in and actually came in with a lot tougher rules on testosterone levels that have to be more comparable to what a woman has, and I think that’s a good thing,” Jenner added. “So Lia Thomas may not be able to compete in the NCAA, we will see, but it’s the rules.”
Jenner said it’s simply not fair for Thomas to compete at this level.
“From my standpoint, the immediate thing to do is, I don’t think she should be able to compete at the highest level in the NCAA,” Jenner explained. “I just don’t think it’s fair. So, I have no problem with that. Let’s rethink this thing and we will go from there.”
The former Olympian said that she respects Lia Thomas’ “right to live her life authentically,” however Jenner agreed that when it comes to “fairness,” “biological boys should not compete against women.”
“All of this woke world that we are living in right now is not working,” Jenner said.
You go, girl!