Washington, D.C. – Today, the International Olympic Committee banned transgender and intersex athletes from competing in women’s Olympic sporting events. 

Brian Dittmeier, director of LGBTQI equality at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), issued the following statement in response:

“By mandating sex testing and excluding transgender and intersex women from competition, the International Olympic Committee is embracing a policy that invites confusion, stigma, and invasive scrutiny rather than clarity or safety.

“NWLC joined more than 100 advocacy organizations earlier this year to issue a warning that such discriminatory testing harms all women and girls, and will set women’s sport back decades. Vague and medically unnecessary eligibility rules do not protect women—they expose athletes to humiliating questioning, coerced disclosures of private medical information, and even traumatizing physical examinations to ‘prove’ their womanhood. These policies will disproportionately harm women who already face suspicion and discrimination, including women of color and those who don’t adhere to patriarchal expectations of femininity. And, while this decision will impact elite athletes, it sends a clear message of exclusion that is sure to trickle down to amateur and school sports, discouraging countless women and girls from pursuing their passion.

“At a moment when women athletes continue to face real and persistent inequities—including unequal funding, fewer opportunities, and pervasive harassment and abuse—it is deeply harmful to prioritize exclusion over meaningful progress. True leadership in sport demands addressing the structural barriers that hold women athletes back, not creating new ones.”

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