Summary
Utah has introduced strict guidelines for transgender girls in high school sports, requiring testosterone levels below 66 ng/dl—far stricter than NCAA or Olympic standards—and proof of ongoing gender-affirming care, which was banned in the state in 2023.
Critics argue the rules effectively bar all transgender girls from participating, contradicting the law’s intent to only ban cases of safety or competitive advantage.
Advocates warn the policy harms trans youth by excluding them from the mental health and social benefits of sports.
Do you have any idea just how expensive it would be to do testing on every athlete?
There were 7.8 million student athletes in the US last year and the average cost of a testosterone test is 70 - 100 bucks. Even using conservative estimations, you’d need to spend half a BILLION dollars PER YEAR to accomplish this. And the worst part? Do you know how many of those 7.8 million were trans students? Five.
Not Five thousand. Not Fifty. Five.
You are being distracted and lied to.
I am not saying we should, but if apparently it needs to be done, we should rethink categories and classes more broadly, not in “boys” or “girls” terms.