Boys Have No Place in Girls’ Sports: Sen. Darline Graham

In a news conference on Capitol Hill, South Carolina Senator Darline Graham raised concerns regarding the participation of biological males in women’s sports. She emphasized the potential dangers and injustices this poses for female athletes, referencing a serious injury incident in North Carolina as a notable example.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? The ongoing debate surrounding transgender athletes competing in female sports is marked by claims from certain activists that such occurrences are quite rare. But honestly, I find this argument lacking. When something is deemed wrong, its rarity shouldn’t undermine the need for action, provided such action doesn’t cause disproportionate repercussions.

However, emerging data suggests that these occurrences may be more frequent than previously thought. According to recent research conducted by the Concerned Women of America, transgender athletes have outcompeted biological women for a staggering 2,293 championship positions since the mid-1980s. This figure goes beyond merely indicating the count of trans athletes; it reveals how many biological females might have claimed those honors if not for the presence of trans competitors.

The study compiled by a volunteer-operated database called HeCheated.org, which catalogs reported cases of trans athletes in women’s competitions, shows that these athletes have participated in over 14,000 events across various levels—from high school to professional.

The data on HeCheated.org is extensive. Just the first page notes 200 instances from March 2025 to September 2026, displaying multiple examples of biological males excelling in various sports like high school lacrosse and track and field, as well as achievements in college fencing. Some cases even highlight trans athletes receiving “most improved” awards.

As long as the current laws remain unchanged, it seems there’s no sign of this trend slowing down.

Author Abigail Shrier, in her 2020 book “Irreversible Damage,” pointed out a significant rise—between 1,000 to 5,000 percent—in the number of youth identifying as transgender over several years. Other studies echo this observation, suggesting that this increase shows no signs of abating.

The 2023 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that roughly three percent of high school students identified as transgender, while the Williams Institute projected that, by 2025, around 724,000 Americans between 13 and 17 would assert a transgender identity, which aligns with about 3.6 percent of that age group. Meanwhile, the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine indicates that the prevalence of trans and nonbinary identification among college students could be at an all-time high, estimated between 4.7 and 6.7 percent. This fact shouldn’t directly impact NCAA participation, which still mandates athletes to compete on teams aligned with their sex assigned at birth. But when considering leagues like the WNBA, which currently lacks concrete gender eligibility rules, it leaves room for speculation as to how far some might go to compete.

Recently, women athletes and advocates expressed their concerns before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the need for fairness in women’s sports, a hearing dubbed “Standing Up for Women in Sports: Ensuring Opportunity, Fairness and Safety for Female Athletes.”

During my time at The Seattle Times, I spoke with a high school racer, Ahnaleigh Wilson, who experienced losing to a biological male during an eighth-grade track meet. She mentioned competing against several biological males throughout her high school career. Though I couldn’t verify her claims, the figures detailing biological males in over 14,000 female events, paired with a UCLA study estimating that 122,000 transgender youth might be engaged in high school sports, lend credibility to her experiences.

There’s a recurring narrative among some groups; first, they assert there’s no issue, then they concede it’s happening but insist it’s rare, and finally, they imply it’s happening regularly—and that it’s acceptable. We’re inching towards that last viewpoint.

What constitutes “rare” can be subjective, but it’s clear that trans athletes are increasingly overshadowing female competitors, a fact anyone paying attention can observe.

It doesn’t appear that common sense will interfere with this growing trend any time soon. To alter this course, legal changes are necessary.