NBA champion Matt Barnes has joined in on the transgender athletes controversy, stating that trans women should not be permitted to compete in women’s events.
The 42-year-old former basketball player stated that he supports the transgender population and that people should be able to be themselves, but that transgender players have no place competing against women in the WNBA.
Barnes cited Lia Thomas, the first transgender woman to win a national swimming title in March, as an example of how the ‘whole dynamic’ of sports would change if transgender athletes were permitted to compete in women’s sports.
Thomas and other trans female athletes will always have an unfair advantage in certain sports, because puberty, when their biological male bodies were inundated with testosterone, cannot be reversed.
Barnes stated on Vlad TV when asked about the possibility of transgender women playing in the WNBA, “I don’t like it.” I believe that whatever you are should play in that place.
‘You know, I am a pro, so make your own decision, but sports are different. Sport is a unique animal.
“If you are born a lady, you should play women’s sports, and if you are born a man, you should play men’s sports.” But if you want to pursue anything you want with your life, I respect that; but, I believe the sports situation is a bit different.
Barnes stated that if a transgender player who was born a man began competing against women in the WNBA, “the entire nature of the game would change.”
He said, “I appreciate any personal choice a person may make, but when it comes to sports, I believe the line should not be crossed.”
Barnes mentioned Thomas, the transgender swimmer who won the women’s 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships, and stated that she had an advantage because she was born male.
Thomas secured a position on Penn’s men’s swimming team after graduating high school. By her sophomore year, though, she struggled with severe sadness and suicide ideation.
She began hormone replacement medication towards the close of her sophomore year.
Thomas began swimming for the Penn women’s swimming team at the beginning of her senior year, in accordance with NCAA regulations requiring one year of hormone replacement therapy for gender transition.
Thomas was subjected to greater scrutiny as she gained greater swimming success versus women than in the past.
Many conservative states are pursuing legislation requiring high school athletes to compete as the sex given to them at birth, making transgender athletes a prominent political target.
The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, issued a proclamation declaring the NCAA runner-up, Florida-born Emma Weyant, to be the true champion of the women’s 500 meters.
The NCAA has modified its eligibility requirements for transgender athletes to allow each sport to follow the rules established by its national governing body.
But Thomas said that prohibiting transgender people from participating in sports or limiting them to competing exclusively against each other is unfair.
In addition to denying transgender individuals access to the complete sporting experience, Thomas argued that such a policy would exacerbate the discrimination they endure in other areas.
In June, the governing body of swimming, FINA, banned all transgender women from elite competitions if they did not begin medical treatment to reduce testosterone production prior to puberty or by the age of 12, whichever came first.
USA Swimming implemented its own policy earlier this year with the intention of eventually following FINA’s lead, but stated this week that it needs more time to determine how FINA’s policy affects its own.
The FINA ruling caused national swimming associations to scramble.
The NCAA, the governing body of college athletics, sought clarification from USA Swimming on Penn’s transgender swimmer Thomas, who competed on the women’s team.
USA Swimming has established a guideline demanding proof that an athlete has maintained a testosterone level below 5 nanomoles per liter for at least 36 months.
However, the NCAA chose not to apply this regulation immediately, which would have rendered Thomas ineligible for the March national championships, where she won the 500-yard individual title.
USA Swimming stated in its policy announcement that it would stay in effect until FINA approved its own policy. USA Swimming stated in a statement on Wednesday that it would “now take our time to examine the impact of this international standard on our current policy.”
Thomas has stated that she would like to compete in the Olympics; if she does so, her times would likely place her in contention for a seat in the Olympic trials for the 2024 Paris Games.
The International Rugby League has also banned transgender women from women’s matches until further research enables the sport’s governing bodies to develop an inclusive policy.
And the International Cycling Union changed its eligibility regulations for transgender athletes in June, extending from one to two years the period during which transgender athletes on women’s teams must reduce their testosterone levels.
The governing body of soccer, FIFA, said that it is evaluating its gender eligibility requirements in cooperation with expert parties.
All sports are in control of their own testosterone regulations as a result of the International Olympic Committee’s framework that went into effect in March and was implemented in November of last year.
It superseded an IOC regulation that allowed transgender women on hormone replacement treatment for at least a year to compete against other women in the Olympics.