Talking Past Each Other: Political Polarization & Transgender Athlete Bans

Recent years have seen a surge in anti-transgender efforts in the U.S. political landscape, especially regarding school sports policies. Since 2020, 26 state legislatures have banned transgender girls from competing on their schools’ sports teams. Using audio and video footage from 18 state legislatures, we perform a qualitative analysis of supporters’ and opponents’ arguments during legislative debates. We find that each side reiterates separate concerns and logics, resulting in the parties talking past the other. We also study the rarer instances when legislators directly challenge each other on questions of sex and gender, highlighting the limitations of such exchanges but also their potential for expanding the discourse on gender. We argue several factors fuel the polarizing dynamics of the debates, including: legislators’ commitment to partisan positions, no matter what’s presented; the limiting rules of the debate floor itself; and gaps in legislators' knowledge that fail to get corrected. Ultimately, our analysis reveals that, rather than a space of genuine discourse and debate, political forums create and foster polarization as much as they reflect it. Our conclusion discusses the implications of these hearings for broader public engagement with transgender rights, and considers alternative venues that may be more effective at promoting shared understandings.