Sidelined: How Policy Debates Shaped Trans Students’ Sports Involvement and Physical Activity Trends in Wisconsin

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 7:45am
  In Poster Session: Global Metrics, Local Resistance: Education Policy, Technology, and the Politics of Learning

Abstract

Trans student rights, particularly athletic participation, have been used as a politically polarizing issue. Using two population-based surveys, we examined rates of trans and cis students’ sports involvement and physical activity over a politically volatile 6-year period in Wisconsin from 2018 to 2024, when the Republican-controlled legislature attempted to enact multiple athletic bans. Results from a series of OLS regression models indicated that trans students engaged in sports and physical activity at lower rates than their cis peers, and the disparity widened over time. The increased political attention towards trans athletes may have discouraged trans students from competing and, subsequently, reduced their physical activity. Our findings are highly relevant to current court cases and legislative debates.

Authors

• Erin Gill, University of Pennsylvania

• Benjamin Lebovitz, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Mollie McQuillan, University of Wisconsin - Madison