How Women’s Sports Fans Can Support Transgender Athletes
If you care about women’s sports, this is an important moment to decide what kind of sports culture you want to help build.
Transgender athletes, particularly transgender girls and women, have become a political talking point in a much larger fight over transgender rights. Across the United States, lawmakers have passed legislation restricting transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. As of September 2026, 27 states have enacted laws banning transgender students from participating in sports on teams aligned with their gender identity, while two additional states have imposed restrictions through regulations or agency policies. About half of transgender youth ages 13-17 live in states with a legislative sports ban.
But most transgender athletes aren't professional athletes competing for championships or endorsement deals. They're kids and recreational adults.
They're the sixth grader trying cross-country for the first time. Or the high schooler who wants to play soccer with her friends. They’re the adult looking for community in a recreational softball league and the runner who wants to join the local running club without wondering whether someone is going to make their identity an issue.
If you love women’s sports because you believe sports can empower people, build confidence, create community, and change lives, supporting transgender athletes is part of that work.
Here are five places to start.
1. Remember what youth and recreational sports are actually for
Somewhere along the way, conversations about transgender athletes started treating every soccer field like an Olympic finals match.
That isn't how most people experience sports.
Youth and recreational sports exist for participation, development, friendship, physical activity, confidence, teamwork, and, yes, competition. It’s true that, for many people, winning matters in sport. Competition matters. But neither is the sole purpose of playing.
Physical activity has been shown to improve attention and memory, strengthen muscles and bones, improve cardiovascular health, and reduce risk of depression.
There is growing evidence that transgender kids benefit from participation, too.
A 2025 study of more than 10,000 transgender and gender-diverse adolescents found participation on a sports team was associated with lower depressive and anxiety symptoms in most of the groups researchers examined. The researchers concluded that promoting sports participation while preventing identity-based bullying could improve transgender adolescents' well-being. (2)
We shouldn't have to prove that transgender kids benefit from sports to argue that they deserve access to them.
But the evidence reinforces something sports people already know: playing matters.
2. Push back when every conversation becomes about “fairness”
Fairness is important in sports. But fairness is much bigger than transgender participation.
If you care about fairness in girls' and women's sports, an enormous list of issues deserves our attention: access to quality facilities, coaching, equipment, safe playing environments, opportunities to compete, and resources for girls to stay in sports.
When someone reduces the entire future of women’s sports to transgender participation, ask a simple question: "What else are we doing for women athletes?"
Supporting women’s sports should mean investing in women and girls, not simply excluding a small group of them.
You don't need to have every answer about physiology, eligibility rules, or competitive categories to speak up, but it's important to make sure those around you know where you stand on the issue. Letting myths and misinformation slide makes it appear that you believe those myths as well, so it's important to push back. (If you're looking for facts and talking points on how to have these conversations, check out the free webinars at transathlete.com/take-action)
3. Make your team, league, or club a place people actually want to join
Policies matter, but culture matters just as much.
Research shows that transgender girls in high school choose not to participate in school sports because of bullying and harassment, gendered team spaces, and a lack of access or resources. Those who did participate experienced the same benefits as other kids get from playing sports, including better physical and mental health, social connection, and having fun. (3)
So look at the spaces you control.
If you're a parent, how do you talk about transgender athletes around your child?
If you're a coach, what happens when someone makes a transphobic joke?
If you're in a recreational league, what assumptions are built into your registration forms, uniforms, locker rooms, or team policies?
If you're a fan, what happens when someone in the stands starts targeting a kid?
You don't need a transgender athlete on your team before you create an inclusive environment. Build the culture first. Creating a respectful environment where every individual is valued for what they can contribute and for who they are helps all athletes thrive.
4. Don't make transgender athletes explain themselves to you
Transgender people shouldn't have to provide their medical history, defend their bodies, or become experts in sports science simply because they want to play. This is particularly important with young athletes.
The transgender kid on your daughter's soccer team is not responsible for explaining transgender sports policy to the parents on the sideline.
If you have questions, seek out credible information. Read policies (you can find them at transathlete.com). Look at the research and learn from experts.
Most importantly, remember that curiosity doesn't automatically entitle us to someone else's personal information.
Sometimes allyship looks less like asking another question and more like saying:
“You don't have to explain yourself to me. I'm glad you're here.”
5. Show up when transgender athletes aren't in the room
It is relatively easy to say you support transgender people when everyone around you agrees.
It matters more when someone makes a joke at practice, or another parent starts complaining in the stands. It matters when your recreational league considers an exclusionary policy or your local school board debates whether a transgender student should be allowed to play.
This is when support becomes meaningful, and when you can take action. When responding, you don't need a 20-minute speech.
You can say:
- “She's a kid who wants to play.”
- “We don't talk about other athletes like that.”
- “I want every kid on this team to feel welcome.”
- “Can we focus on making this a great sports experience for everyone?”
Small interventions change the culture of a team or a space, set expectations, and create accountability for our communities.
Supporting transgender athletes doesn't mean caring less about women's sports
There is a false choice embedded in much of the current conversation: either you care about women’s sports, or you support transgender people.`
I reject that framing.
I've spent my life in sports. I know what competition means. I know how much athletes care about fairness. And I also know that sports are about far more than the final result on a scoreboard.
They're where we learn how to work with people who are different from us. They’re where we find confidence, build friendships, and discover what our bodies can do.
Transgender athletes deserve those experiences, too.
If you are a fan of women’s sports, you already understand how powerful it is when athletes who have historically been pushed aside finally get the opportunity, resources, audience, and respect they deserve.
We should want more people to experience that power - not fewer.
You don't have to understand every aspect of being transgender to support a transgender athlete.
You can start much more simply:
Let them play. Learn their name. Cheer for them. And make sure they know they belong.
CHRIS MOSIER is a transgender athlete and activist working for gender liberation in sports and beyond. He is the founder of transathlete.com and a co-author of Fair Game: Trans Athletes and the Future of Sports. Follow his work online @TheChrisMosier.
CITATIONS
1) Movement Advancement Project. [Year of access]. “Equality Maps: Bans on Transgender Youth Participation in Sports.” https://mapresearch.org/equality-map/bans-on-transgender-youthparticipation-in-sports/. Data as of September 9, 2026.
2) Kaja SM, Gower AL, Parchem B, Adler SJ, McGuire JK, Rider GN, Eisenberg ME. Sports Team Participation, Bias-Based Bullying, and Mental Health Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2025 Sep;96(3):590-598. doi: 10.1080/02701367.2025.2465702. Epub 2025 Mar 11. PMID: 40067311; PMCID: PMC13426070.
3) DeChants JP, Green AE, Price MN, Davis CK. "I Get Treated Poorly in Regular School-Why Add To It?": Transgender Girls' Experiences Choosing to Play or Not Play Sports. Transgend Health. 2024 Jan 31;9(1):61-67. doi: 10.1089/trgh.2022.0066. PMID: 38312449; PMCID: PMC10835156.