Trans athlete researcher rejects open category proposal at conference, says most would 'quit their sport'

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Earlier this month, a "Play the Game" conference was held in Finland that included a panel titled, "Who Has the Right to Compete? Exploring the Inclusion of Transgender Athletes in Sport."

The panel featured five speakers representing both sides of the controversial matter, including Joanna Marie Harper, a transgender professor at Western University in Canada.

Jon Pike, a philosophy professor at The Open University in England, argued that an open category should be created for transgender athletes to avoid any potential unfairness from biological males competing against girls and women.

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Opponents of a bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports react to the passing of the bill after a vote by members of the Nassau County Legislature on June 24, 2024. (Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Harper, though, was not a fan of the idea, because "99%" of the open category "will be…cisgender male."

"And so what you are asking is for trans women to compete in a category which is virtually entirely cis men, and just call it an open category. Most trans women, myself included, would rather quit their sport than to compete in such a category," Harper said.

In a 2015 op-ed for The Washington Post, Harper wrote, "Science provides a clear explanation for why, in many sports, trans women don’t maintain any athletic advantage," citing hormone therapy and personal experiences.

Transgender athlete supporters hold up signs as an overflow crowd converges outside the Riverside Unified School District meeting Thursday night to debate the rights of transgender