Ep. #551: Dr. Greg Brown on the Science of Transgender Women in Sports

The issue of transgender women competing in women’s sports has become a hot button affair in recent years, mostly because many are blowing biological women out of the water, and in some cases, setting records that no biological woman will likely ever be able to break.

Some people argue this isn’t a problem, because men who have transitioned to women and follow official competitive protocols don’t have any advantages over other women.

Others argue that the significant physical advantages that men enjoy over women, such as more strength, speed, and power, can’t be eliminated by hormone therapy, and thus, biological men shouldn’t be able to compete against biological women.

Who’s right?

I invited Dr. Greg Brown onto the podcast to help explain what science has to say on the matter. He’s a professor of Exercise Science at the University of Nebraska Kearney who recently wrote an “expert declaration” on this very subject that examines all of the relevant research currently available.

In this interview, Dr. Brown breaks it all down, explaining the physical advantages men enjoy over women, how much they matter in sports, and what happens to them after men transition to become women.

Press play and tune in!

5:02 - Who is Gregory Brown and what is his background?

6:14 - Why did you write this controversial expert declaration?

7:17 - What are these inherent advantages that men have compared to women?

12:46 - How do physiological differences affect performance?

15:00 - How does transitioning before puberty affect the body?

19:27 - What are your thoughts on how this could affect women’s sports?

22:50 - If there are physical advantages in transgenders, where should we go from here? Should we ban them from women’s sports?

29:01 - How does your average transgender athlete compare to an elite women athlete?

44:19 - Where can people find you and your work?

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Mentioned on The Show:

Dr Gregory Brown’s Declaration: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/a69528e3-c613-4bcc-9931-258260a4e77f/downloads/2020.01.07%20G%20Brown%20Report%20Executed.pdf?ver=1578668890484

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