As Crossfitters who are either transgender ourselves or allies to the transgender community, we urge you to reconsider your decision to exclude transgender women from the women’s division of the Crossfit games. We come to you in the spirit of full inclusion for all in Crossfit and would like to share some research about transgender people and sports.

Numerous athletic governing bodies have wrestled with the participation of transgender people in gender-divided sports and athletic competition. This includes the International Olympic Committee, which has allowed transgender athletes to compete in the Olympics according to their affirmed gender since 2005.

The NCAA guide to the inclusion of transgender athletes specifically addresses the false belief that transgender women have a physical advantage to other women. The guide states, “According to medical experts on this issue, the assumption that a transgender woman competing on a women’s team would have a competitive advantage outside the range of performance and competitive advantage or disadvantage that already exists among female athletes is not supported by the evidence.” Dr. Eric Vilain, Director of the Center for Gender-Based Biology and Chief Medical Genetics Department of Pediatrics at UCLA, explains, "Research suggests that androgen deprivation and cross-sex hormone treatment in male-to-female transsexuals reduces muscle mass; accordingly, one year of hormone therapy is an appropriate transitional time before a male-to-female student-athlete competes on a women’s team."

In a recent and public example, the California State Athletic Commission governing Mixed Martial Arts of California has licensed and invited Fallon Fox, a transgender woman who is an MMA fighter, to participate in its sporting competitions in the state of California.

The spirit of Crossfit is that anyone can improve their fitness. Your website says that “the aim of CrossFit is to forge a broad, general and inclusive fitness.”  And this inclusive fitness happens in a community: "In fact, the communal aspect of CrossFit is a key component of why it’s so effective." Even  the Crossfit Games, while highly competitive at the higher ranks, participants are allowed to stay in that can perform even one rep at prescription to stay in the Games.

Every Crossfitter has physical advantages and disadvantages and Crossfit explicitly states that its goal is to welcome everyone and to meet them where they are in their bodies, in their training, and in their fitness. This goal and the feeling of community are why we love Crossfit.

We ask that you reconsider your decision to allow Cholie Jonnson as well as all other transgender Crossfitters to participate in the Crossfit Games based on their gender self-identification.   In so doing, you will not only be a more inclusive space, but you will also join the likes of IOC, the NCAA, and the MMA of California in fully supporting transgender people’s participation.