Sports
Trans athlete: an advocate and a competitor
Porsha Burton talks transition and importance of a team
Porsha Burton is missing her sport. A former track and field athlete, she stopped competing in high school to begin the process of transitioning to her true gender identity.
Burton began as an 8 year old with the Cambria Youth Association in Philadelphia and found success as a sprinter and shot putter. She ran through her freshman year of high school before starting hormone blockers at age 15.
“My participation in sports stopped because it seemed counterproductive to be pumping muscles while I was trying to be softer,” says Burton. “Also, my appearance was changing, and it would have been distracting to race against boys and not fair to the girls.”
Had Burton chosen to compete, according to transathlete.com, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has a policy on “mixed-gender” participation that includes some phrasing on transgender athletes.
However, the policy allows a school’s principal to make the final decision about what gender the student is and what team they may play on, without outlining any criteria for the decision making process.
A class project in junior high led Burton to a path of sexual health advocacy where she educated herself on topics such as pregnancy prevention, STIs and HIV. At age 18, she furthered her own transition by working with a doctor at the Mazzoni Center to gain more knowledge on hormones, therapy and surgeries.
Her work career began at The COLOURS Organization in Philadelphia as a peer educator performing street outreach to young trans women.
“My brother passed from HIV complications during that time,” Burton says. “I have always wished I could have shared more of the things I have learned with him.”
A relationship brought her to D.C. where she was impressed by the people of color she was meeting who had education on their side. She began working at the DC Center for the LGBT Community before moving over to the D.C. Department of Health as a Health Impact Specialist. Burton was contracted out by the DOH and worked inside of local youth organization SMYAL for over a year.
Now working as a community health worker, Burton is hoping to reintroduce sports into her life.
“If you are going to whisper in people’s ears how great they are going to be, you should also be the best that you can be,” says Burton. “I have a love for being athletic and am excited at the thought of competing again. My younger self would have been inspired by seeing a trans woman as an athlete. I never would have stopped.”
Burton happens to be living in a city with a thriving LGBT sports community. The DC Front Runners offer a walking and running program along with a 10-week series of track workouts.
“It’s wonderful to live in a city like D.C. with such an incredible infrastructure for the LGBT community,” says Mick Bullock, Club Coordinator for the DC Front Runners. “We have members from all walks of life, and we are a running family. We accept everyone and are very experienced with nonbinary and trans athletes.”
“We want to represent the whole community and we love diversity,” adds Jeremy Garrett, track coach for the DC Front Runners. “We offer a full range of paces and cater to all abilities. The track program is designed to be fun and a great workout.”
While Porsha Burton explores her path back into sports, the LGBT sports community in D.C. stands ready to embrace her and any individual that wants to reap the benefits of participating in sports.
“My former teammates taught me how to be a team player,” says Burton. “I would like for people who want to understand why a trans athlete should be able to compete and be part of a team, to do more research. Most of the great things in life were made from a team effort.”
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
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