UN Official Says Joe Biden's Transgender Plan Threatens Women

The U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women condemned the Biden administration's proposal to amend equality legislation to boost the participation of transgender athletes in female sport at the school and college levels.

In a letter sent to the U.S. government in December, and since made public, Reem Alsalem said the Biden administration's proposal would amount to "unfair treatment and unlawful and extreme forms of discrimination against most women and girls on the basis of female sex."

In April 2023, the Education Department introduced proposals that would prevent schools and colleges that receive federal funding from imposing blanket bans on the participation of transgender students on teams matching their gender identity if it contradicts their biological sex at birth.

It would be done by extending the protections afforded by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans sex based discrimination in education, to transgender students who identify as female.

Alsalem told Newsweek that the proposed change would "likely deprive female student-athletes of equal sporting opportunities, public recognition and well-deserved scholarship opportunities.

"My concerns also extend off the field. Compelling women and girls to share their intimate spaces with males, including bathrooms and changing rooms, can violate their privacy and leave them open to greater risk of sexual harassment and physical attack.

"Keeping women's sports female is a human rights imperative of our time. Numerous studies have documented that males maintain performance advantages in sports across their lifespan, and that while these advantages can be mitigated, they cannot be suppressed."

Concern was also raised to Newsweek by Selina Soule, one of a group of female athletes who are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian group, in legal action against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference after they were required to compete against transgender athletes.

"Throughout all four years of my high school career I was forced to compete against males, so I know firsthand how demoralizing it is to work so hard to shave fractions of a second off my time, only to inevitably lose to a male runner," Soule said. "When we are forced to compete against males, female athletes like me lose out on not only medals and advancement opportunities but potential scholarship opportunities, too.

"I applaud the UN special rapporteur for standing up for women in sport, and protecting our athletic opportunities as well as our dignity and safety in the sports we love. I implore the Biden administration to take heed of this warning from the UN expert and protect our civil rights by preserving Title IX in its current form."

Newsweek has reached out to the White House press office for comment by email.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, the National Center for Transgender Equality said transgender students are at risk of serious harm if not allowed to use the facilities that match their gender identity.

"Transgender youth are at increased risk of assault and other forms of harm when forced to use facilities with members of a different gender than the one that they live as every day, the statement said.

"Banning transgender students from freely and safely accessing public places, like bathrooms and changing rooms, sends the message that transgender children do not belong. Transgender students simply want to live freely and authentically as themselves, just like every other student."

Riley Gaines, who competed against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in college, told Newsweek that she was left fearing for her life after campaigning against the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports.