Alberta Implements Transgender Ban in Women’s Sports, Exempts Out-of-Province Athletes

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the U.S. currently operates without a policy on transgender athletes after not renewing its 2021 guidelines, which allowed participation contingent on testosterone levels. Meanwhile, Alberta is set to enforce new regulations from September 2025 banning transgender athletes over 12 from competing in female amateur sports within the province, although out-of-province transgender athletes will still be allowed to compete due to jurisdictional limits. This move, backed by Premier Danielle Smith, aims to protect the fairness and safety of female sports but has sparked controversy, with opponents arguing it stigmatizes transgender individuals. In the UK, legal pressure mounts on sports organizations to ban transgender women following a Supreme Court ruling defining 'woman' by biological sex, with some groups threatening litigation against bodies that have not updated policies accordingly. Concurrently, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges to state bans on transgender athletes in female sports from Idaho and West Virginia, with previous lower court rulings overturning these bans. These developments highlight ongoing global legal and political conflicts over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports and the balance between fairness, safety, and rights.