Anyone Can Play Sports, So Why are Some People Discriminated Against?

Who really gets paid attention to in sports? When people think about sports they instantly think of professional men’s sports. Women, including trans women, and trans men are typically underlooked at when sports are mentioned. Whether this ignorance is done on purpose or if it’s the influence from people in life or on social media, everyone should be allowed to participate in sports no matter their race, gender or sexual identity.

Sports are something that help people to release stress or express emotions that are hard to say out loud. Recognition of those who are in sports typically are targeted at men, because the sports that women dominate aren’t given the same opportunities to shine. Even teams such as the USA team that goes to the Olympics were having struggles with giving women the same pay as men. Prior to January 5, 2023 this was true until former President Joe Biden signed an “Equal Pay for Team USA Act of 2022.” Leagues such as the WNBA still have problems with paying women the same as men in the NBA.

While gender bias is a problem there is also a problem with racism against women in sports as well. Ranging from racial stereotypes, to less funding, women of color have to face many things in order to be seen as equal to their counterparts. In the Olympics there was a ban on swim caps made specifically for women of color and their hair, and higher-ups told them that their opinion didn’t matter. Olympic silver medalist Maritza Correia McClendon had believed that there would be a ton of people with different hair types, and so for them saying that they wouldn’t need the caps is extremely disrespectful and the officials should be ashamed of themselves. The effect of banning swim caps made for specific hair types can not only damage the hair but also could have been a disruption of fairness in the Olympics, as uncapped hair slows swimmers down.

There is also another group of people who often get discriminated against and face a lot of backlash, and that is trans men and trans women. Nationwide, there are about 72 bills introduced to ban transgender students from playing a sport with a gender they aren’t assigned to at birth. This anti-transgender sports legislation required that all students should be on the sports team not based on what they identify as but what their birth gender was. When trans people get banned or excluded from sports it doesn’t just make them disappointed, it makes them believe that they are not enough to be able to succeed in a field where they feel like they could shine in. There is an increase in being diagnosed with anxiety and depression and an increase in suicide attemps/risks in the LGBTQ+ community when they are excluded from being apart of sports teams.

Many people believe that trans women have an advantage when competing in sports, but the reality is that many get harmed behind the scenes whether that is teammates or coaches. Trans women get overlooked and while it seems like it could be a good thing for them in their sports but it makes them feel deflated and like they don’t matter. 

Ultimately when schools and states express these policies and turn them into a huge deal they aren’t only hurting feelings of the communities they are making rules and laws against. They are discriminating against certain aspects of who people are. These rules make people believe that the sport isn’t as legitimate as it claims to be because they are excluding certain groups of people.