Caitlyn Jenner uses platform to call for removal of opportunities for transgender children

When the conversation surrounding transgender individuals on sports teams began, the press coverage focused on the proposed legislature itself and its effects on human beings. Now the legislature has an incredibly famous face—that of Caitlyn Jenner, the first openly transgender woman featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 

“It’s an issue of fairness,” Jenner tweeted. Jenner then relayed an upsettingly sexist concern in a campaign email to donors regarding her bid for governor of California.

“Had I competed in the female decathlon in the 1976 Summer Olympics, I would have blown my opponents out of the water,” Jenner said. “Bottom line: it would NOT have been fair to the other female athletes from all around the world to compete against me."

Jenner completely disregards several factors here, including the fact that her transition—both physical and hormonal—had not begun at this point in time. The sexism in this sentiment comes in Jenner’s assumption that she would have “blown [her] opponents out of the water,” ignoring the fact that her competitors would have been Olympic athletes themselves, regardless of their gender. 

But Jenner seems intent on ignoring key factors in relation to this position. She has yet to acknowledge that her position on the issue—since transitioning and as recently as 2020—had been the opposite of the opinions expressed in this new statement against transgender rights.

“I think every trans person, if they're into athletics, should have an opportunity to compete and to improve themselves,” Jenner said during a podcast in 2020. “I think sports is such a great way to learn a lot about yourself.”

Here, Jenner responds to an anti-transgender bill signed by Gov. Brad Little of Idaho in 2020 that attempted to keep transgender women off of cisgender women’s sports teams. Jenner implies that transgender individuals should have the same opportunities as their cisgender peers, not excluded from opportunities for being trans.

Jenner’s hypocrisy extends beyond political tweets and into her personal participation in sports. Jenner has openly participated in women’s leagues since transitioning—and this is in no way a critique of anything besides her hypocritical stance on the rights of transgender athletes besides herself. 

Trans athletes deserve the same chances that cisgender athletes do. And as far as “fairness” goes, if transgender athletes have an advantage, it is incredibly insignificant. 

“It turns out that when transgender girls play on girls’ sports teams, cisgender girls can win … in fact, the vast majority of female athletes are cisgender, as are the vast majority of winners,” Scientific American said in an article about trans athletes. “There is no epidemic of transgender girls dominating female sports.”

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “trans athletes vary in athletic ability just like cisgender athletes.” The ACLU goes on to quote student track athlete Andrea Yearwood, who notes that “one high jumper could be taller and have longer legs than another, but the other could have perfect form, and then do better.”

Keep in mind what this discussion is really about: taking rights away from human beings. It’s about limiting opportunities for individuals who are already oppressed and marginalized. Caitlyn Jenner should know better and, at the very least, human rights should not be up for debate.