Anti-Science NPR Tries to Muddy Waters on Olympics: ‘Will Ban Transgender Athletes’

NPR reporter Rachel Treisman relied on politicized "science" to muddy the waters on Thursday’s Morning Edition in a story headlined “The Olympic committee bans trans athletes from women's events, raising many questions.” She questioned the common-sense decision of the Olympics to not allow biological men to unfairly compete against women in the 2028 games, and announcing sex testing via the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome, found only in biological males. Treisman got it wrong right off the bat, referring to biological men as “transgender athletes.” The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will ban transgender athletes from competing in women's events, based on the results of mandatory genetic screening. Transgender athletes are not “banned” from the Olympics -- they would just have to compete against those of their own sex. "At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat," said IOC President Kirsty Coventry in a video statement. "So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category." .... Nevertheless, controversy ballooned in Paris 2024 when right-wing politicians and commentators called into question the sexes of two female boxers who had been previously disqualified from boxing world championships after failing eligibility tests. One of them was cleared for competition after approval last week, while the other — who has repeatedly identified herself as a cisgender woman — is challenging the World Boxing testing requirement in court. While the accusations were not proven true, they sparked a global debate over gender eligibility and prompted the IOC to begin the review that led to this policy. The IOC says the new rule is based on scientific evidence and "protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category." But experts say the testing raises a multitude...