Association of Ringside Physicians Takes Position that Trans Fighters Should Not Compete Against Cisgender Athletes

The Association of Ringside Physicians issued a statement last month suggesting that transgender athletes should not be allowed compete in combat sports against cisgender athletes. The introductory statement reads as follows: “The Association of Ringside Physicians (ARP) is committed to the concept of fair competition. It advocates for two equally skilled and matched athletes to keep bouts fair, competitive, entertaining, and, most importantly, safe for all combatants. Numerous studies have proven that transgender women may have a competitive athletic advantage against otherwise matched cisgender women. Likewise, transgender men may have a competitive disadvantage against cisgender men. These differences—both anatomic and physiologic–persist despite normalization of sex hormone levels and create disparities in competitive abilities that are not compatible with the spirit of fair competition. More importantly, allowing transgender athletes to compete against cisgender athletes in combat sports, which already involve significant risk of serious injury, unnecessarily raises the risk of injury due to these differences. Hence, the ARP does not currently support transgender athlete competition against cisgender athletes in combat sports.” The full paper can be viewed at: https://ringsidearp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Transgender_PP1.pdf