The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) called on the Liberty League, an intercollegiate New York athletic conference, to change its transgender athlete policy to protect fairness for women athletes.
In a Wednesday letter obtained by The Daily Signal, ICONS — a network and advocacy group made up of current and former collegiate and professional female athletes, their families and supporters — pointed to a biological male at the Rochester Institute of Technology who set school records in women’s track.
The biological male at RIT who identifies as female goes by the name “Sadie Rose” and has set women's school records in the 200-meter, 300-meter and 400-meter races.
The Liberty League — which is affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division III — honored Rose last month by naming the runner its Women’s Track and Field Performer of the Week, according to the Signal.
“Currently ranked first in the women’s 200-meter and second in the 400-meter for the Liberty League Conference, this male athlete is almost certain to take multiple awards, podium spots, and advancement opportunities from female athletes this weekend,” the letter reportedly stated. “It is your responsibility to stop disregarding the rights of your female athletes and speak up to insist on fair competition.”
The council sent the letter ahead of the Liberty League Championships at St. Lawrence University on Friday and Saturday, according to the Signal.
“Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates male-female performance differences exist from the earliest stages,” ICONS added.
“Study after peer-reviewed study has shown clear performance advantages for males in sport pre-puberty,” the letter continues, including links to medical journal articles. “Further studies clearly show that male advantage continues to exist even after attempts to suppress testosterone.”
“The only way sport can be fair and equal for women is with a protected female category that excludes competitors with male advantage,” ICONS argued.
Citing “recent scientific reviews,” ICONS said that “international sport governing bodies” have abandoned “flawed policies that rely on testosterone levels” and revised their rules to “protect the female category.”
In Rule C3.5 or “Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes,” which was also cited in the letter, the world governing body for track and field, World Athletics, states the organization “wants to give equal opportunities to all athletes.”
“The substantial sex difference in sports performance that emerges from puberty onwards means that the only way to achieve the objectives set out above is to maintain separate classifications (competition categories) for male and female athletes,” the beginning of the rule’s second paragraph reads. “That difference is due to the physical advantages conferred on male athletes by the testes producing much higher levels of circulating testosterone than ovaries produce from puberty onwards in female athletes.”
“To be clear, the R.I.T. [Rochester Institute of Technology] runner would not be eligible for the female category under the World Athletics policy,” ICONS stated in the letter.
The council also pointed to lawmakers in 24 states and the House of Representatives who have passed legislation “to ensure males are not allowed to compete on school teams designated for women and girls.”
“We are reaching out today to ask you, as coaches and athletic directors, to stand up for fairness in sport,” the letter said. “The public has heard the stories of the high school girls in Connecticut track, the college swim team in Virginia, and the professional women who are self-excluding from the sports they love.”
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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