Transgender athletes participating in competitive sports are becoming more normal with each day. Although some may see no problem with this, the only thing is that men and women are built with different levels of strength, endurance, and speed. This means that when one gender switches to the other, their qualities of athleticism could differ from being above average to even being below average depending on the change being made. For example, swimmer Lia Thomas’ is a transgender athlete who took the victory at the NCAA swimming finals.

Thomas became the first trans athlete to win the NCAA swimming title. Her victory alone caused both condemnation and support from rivals. Although it may be unfair in some people’s eyes, the USA Swimming policy states that trans athletes must undergo three years of hormone replacement therapy before being able to competitively compete. She is currently 6 months short of the target time but the NCAA decided to overlook the rules and allowed Thomas to compete.

With all the rules that are made, whether they’re followed or not, being a transgender alone is a self-made decision and a self-entitled way of life. At the end of the day no one is ever going to be able to make out your life besides you. Believing that being a transgender athlete is right or wrong is hard because many people support different sides of this argument. I personally feel like whichever way you decide to look at it, it’s worth understanding that people either go through a process to be able to compete (with exceptions).