Hello to our dope village. Welcome to our second film, this episode of laughter permitted, dedicated

to the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Today, we will be talking about transgender athletes

and Title IX. And as we have seen, transgender athletes as it relates to them, the sports

has become a highly debated and polarizing topic. It is also a layered and nuanced topic.

Our goal here is to create a safe space to ask questions and discuss topics like the

history of transgender policy, the science involved, how ongoing legislation affects

the trans and LGBTQ plus community, and what the future could look like for trans athletes.

So for this episode, we welcome our ESPN colleague and award-winning journalist Katie Barnes,

who has reported extensively on the topic. In fact, they are writing a whole book on it.

Katie, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. I think I need to bring you around

to be my high woman all the time. Well, I get it gone much longer than that. That

was my short version. Well, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Katie, to start with, what is the connection between Title IX and transgender athletes?

Oh, man, the question of the day, I think. So Title IX, as we understand it, prohibits

sex-based discrimination in education, including all education-based activities, which of course

includes sports. And so sex-based discrimination, there's this ongoing question about what

does that mean and who does it apply to? So like, when you ask a question about, what

is the importance of Title IX to the discussion? It is the place where this legal battle

hinges in terms of the ability for transgender young people to access education and schools

in accordance with their gender identity. So like, it's why, you know, when we talk about

transgender athletes, and there's this whole elite conversation, well, the IOC has nothing

to do with Title IX. But where the legal battle is happening is all around Title IX in terms

...