Two female runners competing in a state higher college championship this weekend have come below attack due to the fact persons think they are transgender and thus could have an unfair benefit. But the science is far from clear as to no matter whether trans athletes are basically more rapidly or stronger than their cisgender peers, professionals say.

The proof is specifically murky for teen athletes, who could be going via puberty or taking drugs to suppress hormones — actions that could boost their overall performance or hinder it, or have extremely tiny influence at all.

As the international debate about transgender athletes’ participation in all levels of sport ramps up — especially in the United States, which is enduring a wave of anti-trans legislation — a paucity of study on the topic tends to make it difficult to recognize specifically what’s at stake, say professionals in sports medicine and gender biology.

But for young athletes, equal access to sports — which present a slew of rewards, physically, mentally and socially — outweighs any prospective problems of unfairness, several professionals in youth sports say. That is why California, along with a dozen other states, enables children to participate in the gender category connected with their identity, with out query or restrictions.

“The most critical point is that everybody is treated equally and integrated, and has the chance to participate,” mentioned Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, who has studied policies for transgender athletes for 20 years. “That has to be the overriding consideration in K-12 college-primarily based sports.”

Only a handful of little research exist that examine no matter whether transgender persons, in certain trans ladies, have an unfair benefit in sports primarily based on their biology. The very first study, out of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and published in 2015, looked at performances for eight trans female athletes and discovered they had been about equally competitive ahead of and soon after transitioning.

Yet another study, also from Loughborough University and published in 2021, discovered that for quite a few crucial markers of athletic overall performance, trans female athletes on hormone therapy for at least 3 months had been extremely comparable to cisgender athletes.

“It’s not unreasonable to recommend that in endurance overall performance, trans ladies who are on hormone therapy could not have any substantial positive aspects,” mentioned Joanna Harper, a doctoral student at Loughborough who was an author on each research and is a transgender runner herself.

Significantly of the concentrate is on testosterone, the male hormone that floods boys’ bodies throughout puberty and aids them create muscle mass, and has other effects that could boost athletic overall performance. Quite a few trans women — although certainly not all — take drugs to suppress testosterone, and some competitive sports organizations need female athletes to meet particular hormone levels in order to participate.

That is most likely affordable, from a scientific viewpoint, for college sports and beyond, mentioned Harper. But that sort of testing for higher college athletes is dicier, partly due to the fact trans youth could not be taking hormone-suppressing drugs, and forcing them to as a requirement to play would be incorrect, she mentioned.

“The higher college point, it is truly, truly difficult,” Harper mentioned. “There are higher college trans girls who are on hormone therapy, but they do so not due to the fact of sports, but due to the fact it is the appropriate time for them to go on hormone therapy.”

The public backlash against the two runners competing in the California Interscholastic Federation championships Friday and Saturday hinges on assumptions that each athletes are transgender, primarily based in aspect on them getting run on boys’ teams in preceding seasons.

But neither girl has identified publicly as transgender, and it is not identified if they are at present or have ever taken hormone-suppressing drugs. And they shouldn’t have to reveal that info, say professionals in sports medicine and biology, along with trans rights advocates.

“The most effective policy would be to accept all children, let all children participate, and not get into the potentially extremely troubling arena of requiring children to go via extremely invasive examinations and scrutiny,” Minter mentioned.

Minter and other people also questioned no matter whether problems of fairness had been truly driving the conversations about trans athletes’ participation. “Transgender children are significantly less than 1% of the population — there’s not been any indication of any systemic trouble,” Minter mentioned. “Most transgender children playing sports are typical, just like most children are typical.

“What’s taking place now is not for the most aspect about any reputable issues or concerns,” he added. “It’s just a political targeting of a vulnerable group. It is not that challenges have abruptly arisen, it is that it is abruptly develop into a political problem. And that is truly tragic for these children.”

Certainly, the attacks on the athletes participating in this weekend’s state championships began in aspect due to the fact some persons believed that a cisgender athlete who came in fourth was upset about losing to a presumed trans athlete, Athena Ryan, a higher college junior from Sonoma County who placed second.

Some critics of Ryan’s participation noted her celebrating the accomplishment — along with a private most effective time for the season — in an interview with Milesplit, which tracks student athlete performances. Just soon after finishing her qualifying race final weekend, Ryan thanked her coach and her father for providing her self-assurance, and mentioned she was excited to have run below five minutes for the 1,600 meters.

“I wasn’t expecting that. I’ve dropped like 17 seconds on my season-most effective in the previous two weeks,” Ryan mentioned, nonetheless out of breath from the race.

Ryan’s enhanced occasions more than the course of one particular season would have practically nothing to do with no matter whether she is trans or not, Harper and other professionals mentioned. But they, along with other trans athletes, mentioned they weren’t shocked to see Ryan come below attack merely for carrying out nicely and getting proud of it.

“As a trans particular person, it is OK for you to participate as lengthy as you are not winning, but the moment you develop into celebrated it becomes a trouble and you develop into a monster,” mentioned Navi Huskey, who knowledgeable that firsthand throughout two seasons on the Extended Beach City College basketball group, even as she took on the part model mantle for other trans athletes. “It was like, be superior, but then you are getting as well superior, so that is a trouble.”

Attain Erin Allday: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday