One of the world’s largest sports governing bodies has decided to ban biological males who identify as women from competing in female sports categories. It is the first major sports association to do so. 

In a press release on Thursday, the World Athletics Council reversed a previous decision to allow transgender women to compete as long as they had significantly lowered their testosterone levels for at least 12 months before doing so. 

“In regard to transgender athletes, the Council has agreed to exclude male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female World Rankings competition,” the council said. The ban will be in place for at least the next year, at which point the governing body will reevaluate its position. 

“In these circumstances, the Council decided to prioritize fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion,” it continued.

The World Athletics Council is a governing body that oversees all international competitions for track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running, and ultra running.

Transgender athletes have become a salient political issue in America as the prevalence of male-to-female participants has increased, most notably a NCAA swimming champion, Lia Thomas, who was born William Thomas. 

Many Republican-controlled states have taken an active role in banning transgender students from competing in athletic categories that do not align with their birth sex. There are 19 states that have now instituted bans along those lines. 

West Virginia’s ban — the Save Women’s Sports Act — was struck down by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in February, and the law’s authors are now seeking relief from the Supreme Court. 

The West Virginia attorney general, Patrick Morrissey, filed an emergency application to be heard by the justices on March 13, but they have yet to rule on whether to hear the case.

One champion cyclist, Hannah Arensman, filed an amicus brief along with 66 other athletes, coaches, and sports professionals in support of West Virginia’s ban. In the brief, she stated that she quit the sport due to the presence of transgender competitors. 

“I have had to race directly with male cyclists in women’s events,” Ms. Arensman wrote in the legal brief. “As this has become more of a reality, it has become increasingly discouraging to train as hard as I do only to have to lose to a man with the unfair advantage of an androgenized body that intrinsically gives him an obvious advantage over me, no matter how hard I train. I have decided to end my cycling career.”

Ms. Arensman cited a cycling event in December 2022 in which she placed fourth. In third and fifth place were two transgender women. “My sister and family sobbed as they watched a man finish in front of me, having witnessed several physical interactions with him throughout the race,” Ms. Arensman wrote in the brief.

Another transgender woman, Tiffany Thomas, won a major cycling event at New York City last weekend.