The unfalsifiability of the anti-trans sports movement

The anti-trans side is winning on the sports front, but it’s emotion, not science, winning the day for them

Few war issues have had such an immediate political impact as the trans athlete debate. Over the last several years, conservative state governments in tk states have succeeded in banning trans girls and women from girls and women’s competitive sports.

But the science on this issue is largely inconclusive at best, and at most, supports trans women’s place in women’s sports. This has run into intense opposition from those who aren’t well informed on the issue who come into it with the assumption that men are by default better athletes than women due to birthright.

This assumption is exploited by anti-trans campaigners, who use it as a substitute for scientific fact. “Everyone knows” folklore about men and women then takes the place of actual scientific analysis of hard data. This is further stoked by a common gender critical messaging tactic: showing sporting and athletic data of the difference between cisgender men’s and women’s athletes and declaring trans women’s participation fundamentally unfair.

It’s a neat trick when you think about it. You can use this tactic to sell a ban on trans women…