With transgender athletes set to go to the Tokyo Olympics, a majority of people now stand against letting them compete in women’s sports.
In a new Rasmussen Reports survey Friday, 56% of likely voters said it is unfair to make women compete against transgender athletes.
The poll found that just 25% think it’s fair and 19% are not sure.
The issue, long debated in student athletics, splashed onto the front pages this week when weightlifter Laurel Hubbard qualified for the games on New Zealand’s team, making history as an openly transgender athlete.
New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard lifts in the snatch of the women’s +90kg weightlifting final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, Monday, April 9, 2018. Manish Swarup/AP
“We acknowledge that gender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue requiring a balance between human rights and fairness on the field of play,” said Kereyn Smith, the chief executive of the New Zealand Olympic Committee. “We are committed to supporting all eligible New Zealand athletes and ensuring their mental and physical well-being along with their high-performance needs while preparing for and competing at the Olympic Games are met.”
But support isn’t universal.
The Rasmussen survey found that most groups oppose having transgender athletes compete in women’s sports. For men, it was 59% who oppose to 25% who approve. For women, 54% of respondents were against it, while 25% approve.
Also opposed were black people, white people, Democrats, and Republicans.
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Tags: Washington Secrets, Transgender, Tokyo, Olympics
Original Author: Paul Bedard
Original Location: Majority ‘No’ to transgender athletes versus women in Olympics