Despite the provincial government moving ahead with legislation affecting transgender and non-binary youth and adults, one group is hoping highlighting lived experiences can help communities navigate the new policies and recognize the importance of inclusive sport for everyone.
The TransAthletics Teach-In, organized by faculty members at Mount Royal University, brought together trans athletes and academics for a panel discussion on their experiences in sport and the current state of trans inclusion.
“We wanted to bring … actual transgender athletes who have experience with policies and legislation to come and speak about their lived experience, living through policy changes and to talk about what does it take to have inclusive, equitable, fair play in sport,” said Gio Dolcecore, one of the organizers of the event.
At the end of October, the provincial government tabled a trio of bills to limit gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth, require parental consent for name and pronoun changes in schools and ban transfeminine athletes from women’s sports. Experts have said once passed, the policies will be the most restrictive in Canada.
It’s official.
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Dolcecore, alongside their colleagues Celeste Pang and Marty Clark, has been preparing for the legislation since Premier Danielle Smith announced it was coming in February.
The panel focused specifically on Bill 29, or the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, which seeks to “protect the integrity of female athletic competitions” by creating “biological female-only divisions” and expanding mixed-gender leagues for trans athletes. The bill has drawn criticism from sports organizations, trans advocates and the opposition NDP.
Beyond just issues of transgender inclusion, sport is equally important for other vulnerable groups, such as those with physical or cognitive disabilities. A 2024 article from The Conversation explains how sport “acts as common ground for people from different backgrounds, helping to build trust, community and a sense of belonging.”
The event, held through the QriTical research hub at Mount Royal, aimed to emphasize this. Dolcecore, who is also a professor in the faculty of child studies and social work, said the goal was to address some of the misconceptions about trans athletes in sport while highlighting fair and safe sport for all.
“We knew that we had to educate the masses in a way that is not like, ‘This is what you should be doing. This is why the policy or legislation is wrong,’” they said. “But more so coming from, this is someone’s lived experience, so can we learn from their experience so that we don’t harm future athletes?”
‘There’s just not enough of us’
One of the panelists, Eb Campbell, said they don’t see the point in having legislation which restricts transgender participation in sports because there are not many trans athletes to begin with.
“There’s just not enough of us,” Campbell said. “Especially when you get into trans people in sports, we’re such a small percentage of these people. You’re legislating things that aren’t a problem.”
Tourism and Sports Minister Joseph Show said the government does not know how many transgender or non-binary athletes there are in Alberta — and they don’t keep track of it.
According to the 2021 national census, Alberta had 12,480 transgender and non-binary individuals, comprising 0.3 per cent of the provincial population at the time.
Campbell, who grew up in Calgary, is a national-level trampoline gymnast based out of Regina. They said they came out in sport as non-binary in 2021, where they compete in the men’s category for trampoline and tumbling.
Although they do not compete in the women’s category, Campbell said inclusion should be the same no matter what sports people compete in.
“The big misconception in gymnastics is that it’s somehow fundamentally different from other sports in how trans athletes can exist but the same things are important for inclusion in all sports,” they said during the event. “There’s just a little bit more mental gymnastics you need to make it work for more non-traditional sports.”
An ‘unfair’ advantage
One of the key topics of the Teach-In event was the debate over whether transgender athletes have a competitive advantage in female sport.
The issue has grown increasingly contentious in recent years, with opponents saying those born as biological males have an unfair advantage over cisgender females because they still have more testosterone and the muscle and bone structure of a man.
But Dolcecore said this information is false and misleading because it defines trans women as men.
“There’s nothing in their biological being that would say based on blood work or chromosome checks or hormone checks, this person is equitable to a male-identified person,” they said.
They added the language the government has used surrounding the policies gives the illusion of being informed by research, but instead is rooted in bias towards transgender people. This can then evoke more prejudice among people not familiar with trans experiences.
A 2021 Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport scientific review of existing research on transgender participation in sport found most biological data regarding transgender people and athletes is “severely limited, and often methodologically flawed.”
The review also notes several of the biological advantages transfeminine women are said to have do not exist.
This can include a higher red blood cell count, which they found disappears within four months of someone starting testosterone suppression therapy, and misconceptions that they have a higher and stronger muscle mass, which on average is lower in trans women.
But the scientific community remains divided. In a 2024 editorial in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, the authors argued studies show testosterone does contribute to an athletic advantage in “body size, muscle mass, endurance, speed, strength, and power.”
Instead, they advocate for “sex-based eligibility testing” for high-level athletes, similar to what World Aquatics has implemented. They argue the process should occur early to protect the “confidentiality and dignity” of athletes “before they are thrust into the global spotlight.”
Campbell, however, does not believe restrictions and screening tests should exist, adding even though governments will say they are temporary until they do more research, often it doesn’t occur or reinforces existing stereotypes and biases.
“If we’re not allowed to compete as trans athletes, how are they going to do the research? You can’t do research on a group that you’re not letting participate,” they said.
An opportunity for growth
Both Dolcecore and Campbell said despite the negativity surrounding the policies, contributing to the discussion around them provides another avenue for people to learn how policy affects real people.
“A lot of people never really have the opportunity to hear about trans people in sports from anywhere but politicians getting mad that we want to exist in society and do the things in society that people do, like play sports,” Campbell said.
“Getting the opportunity to listen to a bunch of people who have participated, who have the lived experience, is really helpful.”
Dolcecore agrees, adding sharing personal experiences helps build community. They said opening up discussions about equity and inclusion in sport can help those unfamiliar with trans experiences learn more.
“We know when we actually sit down with someone and hear their story, that’s where education happens,” they said. “As a professor, I always say ‘Through community we then develop growth.’ Growth doesn’t happen when you sit in silo.”