Like many, I have no satisfying resolution to the question of transgender athlete participation at the elite/professional level. (At lower levels: everyone plays. Next.) Here’s a gross oversimplification of two things that are both true: sports should be as inclusive as possible and athletes born physically male have physical advantages over athletes born physically female in most sports.

Most sport organizations have struggled to reconcile these two positions in their policies regarding trans athletes. The resolution seldom satisfies. Case in point: the IOC has ruled that male-to-female trans athletes competing in Paris 2024 must have completed their transition by the age of 12. I’m not saying a child can’t know that they are trans by that age, I’m sure they can. But requiring a transition by 12? I gather this is a cynical approach to keep trans athletes out of women’s competition, but it also seems to set a hell of perverse standard and incentive for subjecting children to incredibly intense–at times risky–medical procedures at an insanely early age. I am not an expert on the medical side of this, but I don’t think I need to be in this case.