Hello,

My name is Jacob Sherrod. I am from Henrico County and currently attend the University of Virginia.

I wish today to refute the upcoming rule restricting the participation of transgender girls from playing youth sports. 

As someone who has participated in high school sports with transgender people, I know the distinct lack of negative impact their participation has had on me. In fact, by virtue of their participation, my and my teammate's minds and hearts were further opened to difference and diversity, and ourselves, our athletic program, and our school was made all the better for it.

I shall now refute some of the common arguments presented by those who are in favor of restricting transgender girls' participation in sports. 

Some argue that trans girls have a participation advantage: Studies conducted on the matter have been variable and specific to their context, with most findings centered around the decrease in (and sometimes worse) performance over time of post-puberty trans girls (https://www.transresearch.org.au/post/trans-women-in-sport). As many of the trans girls who participate in sports entirely bypass their traditional puberty by taking blockers and hormones, this argument's strength is lessened. 

Some argue that trans women's presence in female locker rooms would be dangerous, and cite instances of sexual misconduct that have happened because of allowing trans girls in girls' locker rooms: This is a case of classic selection on the dependent variable. The vast, vast majority of sexual misconduct is conducted by cisgender men, with trans girls' commitment of those acts being near a statistical error. While one act is one too many, we would probably prevent the same amount of sexual misconduct by requiring individual locker rooms for all students.

High school sports were initially founded to improve each individual student's virtue and to expand their character outside of academics (Pruter, 2013). Let us expand these opportunities to all students.