The Shocking Number of Transgender Athletes Competing In Michigan

On Wednesday President Trump signed an executive order seeking to ban transgender athletes from participating in women's sports.

According to a 2023 Gallup pole, 7 in 10 Americans felt that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on teams that aligns with their sex assigned at birth.

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The main reasons people gave for supporting a ban was that they believed these athletes would have an unfair athletic advantage and that the could pose a danger to the other athletes.

Transgender Woman In College Sports

One of the biggest stories in recent years involving transgender athletes in college sports happened in 2022 when Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer, became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I swimming championship.

The win sparked a national debate about transgender women competing in women's sports.

NCAA Bans Transgender Athletes

One day after President Trump signed the executive order NCAA president Charlie Baker said this in a statement.

 “We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

 

What Will The MHSAA Do Next?

This debate isn't only happening in college sports across the country, it's also happening in high school sports in Michigan.

Michigan High School Athletic Association spokesperson Geoff Kimmerly said this in a statement.

"The MHSAA is awaiting further guidance as to potential conflicts between yesterday’s executive order and Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act."

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The Shocking Number of Transgender Athletes Competing In Michigan

With all of this happening, I was curious to know how many transgender athletes are competing in Michigan high school sports.

When I heard the number, I was shocked.

According to Fox 17, The MHSAA has two transgender female athletes who were granted waivers to compete in their sports for the 2024-2025 school year.

These two athletes are among the 170,000 student-athletes competing in Michigan.

If you were to calculate the percentage of transgender athletes in Michigan, it would come out to be 0.00117647059%.

Personally, I can see both sides of the argument. Like most executive orders, we'll have to wait and see what the courts decide to do.

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But for now, transgender athletes can still compete in Michigan high school sports.