USA Gymnastics Deletes Radical Trans Participation Policy Amid Biles Debacle

USA Gymnastics (USAG) scrubbed its radical “transgender” and “nonbinary” participation policies from its website, journalists discovered amid the dust-up between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines.

Biles, widely regarded as the greatest female gymnast of all time, and Gaines, a decorated collegiate swimmer and women’s rights advocate, traded barbs on X last weekend over boys participating in girls sports.

Biles accused Gaines of “bullying” Marissa Rothenberger, a boy who won Minnesota’s girls high school softball championship on June 6, and mocked the former swimmer’s muscular physique.

Though the Olympian has since apologized, her bizarre comments prompted renewed scrutiny of USAG’s participation policies. Researchers found rules allowing men to compete in women’s events had been deleted from the organization’s website.

USAG denies Biles’ actions prompted the erasure, telling Fox’s Jackson Thompson it removed its “transgender eligibility policy” from the website in May to “assess compliance with the current legal landscape.”

The Daily Citizen cannot independently verify when the contested policies were taken down.

Until now, USAG has upheld one of the most radical participation policies in sports. In a now-deleted policy revision from 2020, the organization announced men could compete in women’s events without undergoing transgender hormone or surgical interventions, legally changing their birth sex or even submitting an application.

In another deleted document, USAG instructed staff and coaches not to “disclose any information about a transgender or non-binary person’s sex assigned at birth or gender identity without their explicit consent.”

These rules not only clear the way for any male to compete in women’s gymnastics, but for men to hide their sex from teammates who may not want to share a locker room with them.

It’s unclear whether USAG no longer abides by these policies or has simply removed them pending revision — but it’s not the first sports governing group to walk radical participation policies back this year.

In March, USA Track and Field adopted World Athletic participation rules requiring athletes compete in categories consistent with their biological sex.

In April, USA Fencing (USAF) announced it would create sex-segregated competition categories “if one or more governing bodies require these updates.” The announcement followed a firestorm of criticism over USAF’s treatment of Stephanie Turner, who was disqualified from a meet and put on a year’s probation after refusing to fence against a man.  

World Boxing instituted mandatory, pre-competition sex testing in May, effectively preventing Imane Khelif, a male boxer with a rare disorder of sexual development, from competing against women.

The Daily Citizen supports any policy change protecting women’s sports and private spaces. But Dee Foster Worley, a highly decorated female gymnast and former member of USAG’s board, doesn’t believe the group will make meaningful revisions.

“I predict that they will amend the language, leaving lots of loopholes and flexibility, [so it’s] just nebulous enough for them to be able to change their minds if and when the time comes,” Worley told Fox frankly.

“I think [USAG is] very pressure driven … rather than principles driven,” she explains.

“You can’t depend on an organization that doesn’t stand on anything and doesn’t have values they refuse to bend on.”

Additional Articles and Resources

Cringe: Simone Biles Erupts at Riley Gaines for ‘Bullying’ Boys in Girls Sports

Male Boxer Khelif Barred from Female Category After Rule Change

USA Fencing Explicitly Prioritizes Men’s Feelings Over Women’s Safety and Athletic Achievement

Olympic Track and Field Protects Women. Why Won’t Other Sports Do the Same?

Yes, Girls Care When Boys Take Their Trophies