"Transgender Athletes and Gender Identity in Professional Sports" – this is the title of Anatoly Peskov's latest research article.

"Transgender Athletes and Gender Identity in Professional Sports" – this is the title of Anatoly Peskov's latest research article.

The leading Russian scientific journal for sports lawyers, "Sport: Economics, Law, Management" (No. 2, 2026), is publishing a research article by Anatoly Peskov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Association for the Protection of Athletes' Rights, on the fate of transgender sports globally and in Russia. As before, the head of our organization is not afraid to express his opinion on the most pressing issues in international sports. According to the author, the main reasons for the emergence of transgender athletes in professional sports are explained by the emergence in the West of new common worldviews and scientific theories on gender identity. In particular, according to the theory of social constructivism, men and women are not born, but rather become in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of individuals themselves. There are many non-binary (bisexual) people who experience various types of attraction, both to their own sex and to the opposite sex. This theory, as the author of the article argues, has found support among the liberal democratic elite of the so-called "deep" state and has been artificially imposed primarily in our civilization under the guise of protecting the human right to self-expression, identification, and respect for the "diversity" of the world. As a result, same-sex marriages, the creation of shared locker rooms and restrooms for girls and boys, and the elimination of the concepts of "daddy" and "mommy" have become possible in many countries. Women have gained the legal right to "transform" into men, men into women, and even teenagers have gained the right to choose their gender. The institution of the traditional family has begun to crumble. These dramatic changes have also occurred in professional sports. The article cites information about more than 50 prominent, world-renowned athletes who have identified as gay, lesbian, and bisexual. Hundreds of transgender athletes have already openly competed in the Olympic Games, primarily on national teams from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil, and have successfully won Olympic medals. Furthermore, in 1989, the European Lesbian and Gay Sports Federation (LGBT) was founded, uniting more than 44,000 athletes and 150 sports organizations and groups. A similar organization was officially registered by Russian authorities in 2011. This organization included approximately 1,500 Russian athletes, representing over 30 sports clubs and sections in 15 major Russian cities. However, in 2021, this organization was designated a foreign agent, and in 2023, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declared the LGBT community and its structural divisions extremist organizations. According to the author of the article, the emergence of transgender people and transgender ideology is yet another project of the "deep state," aimed at the destruction of states and religions, social communities and human institutions, including the family. All these projects, the author argues, are carried out contrary to the interests of humanity and are aimed at enslaving humanity using artificial intelligence, genetic interventions, and other modern technologies. The nature of the forces shaping this so-called "deep" state and implementing these projects, according to Anatoly Peskov, remains deeply unstudied and undefined. The seriousness and scale of these "dark" forces' activities, as we have all recently seen, is demonstrated by the Epstein case, which involves leaders of various countries, oligarchs, bankers, members of royal families, and ruling and creative elites from around the world. One may or may not believe in conspiracy theories, or be ironic about them, but, as the author of the article notes, it must be acknowledged that destructive processes destroying the social institutions of our civilization, as well as generally accepted human values ​​and concepts, are taking place in the real world, radically changing it, and this is reflected in the sphere of international law. In particular, as noted in the article, in accordance with the UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity of December 18, 2008, approximately half of the world's states (96 of the 193 UN member states) have committed to promoting and protecting the rights of people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. And, according to the author, they sometimes pursue this human rights advocacy for sexual minorities with excessive zeal, disregarding generally accepted human values ​​and contrary to the interests of the majority of people on our planet. This is also the case in international sports. In particular, the author criticizes the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which in 2021 adopted the "Concept on Fairness, Inclusion and Discrimination Based on Gender Identity and Sexual Diversity," which allowed transgender athletes to participate in women's sports. At the same time, the IOC recognized the ideology of protecting transgender sports as one of the core values ​​of the Olympic Movement. However, not all countries agreed with the decisions of international organizations that supported the transgender ideology. To date, Russia, China, and the countries of the Islamic Conference have not signed the aforementioned UN declaration. Both the Russian state and society have taken an active stance against the spread of gender ideology and gender therapy. However, it must be acknowledged that, surprisingly enough, the true leader in the fight against transgender ideology and transgender sports worldwide has been the leading Western power, the United States of America. On January 20, 2025, the day of his second inauguration as President of the United States, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14168, entitled "Protecting Women from Gender Ideological Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth in the Federal Government." In accordance with this legal act, all US federal agencies must cease funding gender therapy and gender ideology and any manifestations thereof, ban the word "gender," recognize only "male" and "female" genders, and reflect only these designations in US passports and visas. In February 2025, Trump signed another executive order banning men from participating in women's sports, calling male participation in women's sports degrading, unfair, and dangerous for women and girls, depriving them of their right to privacy in locker rooms and other public spaces. With this order, the US President banned the entry of transgender athletes into the US, as well as funding for educational programs related to transgender ideology and sports. As is well known, the US President's position was supported by the US Olympic organizations and the International Olympic Committee. Specifically, on March 26, 2026, the IOC officially announced a new policy aimed at protecting biological women in the Olympic Movement. The IOC Executive Board decided that this policy would take effect beginning with the 2028 US Olympic Games. Under this new policy, athletes must undergo medical testing to determine their gender. This requires simply providing a biological sample of saliva or blood to determine the presence of the SRY gene. However, this raises a number of questions. What will happen to transgender athletes? What will happen to their past athletic victories? Should the modern sports community follow today's opportunistic views on transgender sports, particularly those dictated by the temporarily elected president of even such a powerful country as the United States? Readers will find answers to all these questions in Anatoly Peskov's article. In particular, the author examines the relevance of transgender sports in the world from a philosophical and religious perspective. His position is based on the recognition of the sinfulness of human nature, as taught by the Christian church. Wild, unbridled, sinful thoughts and fantasies, including those of a sexual nature, can haunt anyone, according to the author: criminals, police officers, ordinary citizens, priests, and even the president of any country. This is consistent with the theory of the eminent Austrian psychologist and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, who wrote extensively about the innate bisexuality of humans and their "polyform depravity," where any object can be the source of erotic experiences. And, as the author is convinced, this sinful nature must be constantly restrained by morality and law, otherwise we will see an increase in incest, pedophilia, and all manner of sexual perversions, including criminal ones, and, ultimately, a general decline in morality in society. In this regard, his references to the history of the Ancient World are appropriate, where a decline in morality and sexual unbridledness contributed to the destruction of the great civilizations of Rome and Greece. We can, for example, recall Ancient Greece, where young men were often raised by homosexual mentors, and some Greek combat units were composed of male lovers, or Roman amphitheaters, where demonstrative mass copulations of animals and humans and public incest were staged. This is why, in the author's opinion, it is crucial that the state, religious, and social institutions constantly restrain, limit, and control human sinful nature. Therefore, preserving the moral foundations of Russian society and the family as the fundamental unit of this society should become an integral part of state ideology, including in the development of sports and physical education. However, the author believes this doesn't mean we shouldn't acknowledge the problem of gender-transgender people in sports today and consider these individuals social outcasts. This issue is complex and requires a differentiated approach. Some people have various kinds of natural sexual deviations, both genetic and hormonal. It's pointless, and perhaps even foolish, the author believes, to judge them for their sexual nature and these deviations, which arose against their will. Perhaps such people should indeed be helped to change their gender and their rights protected, if there are appropriate medical reports. Moreover, they should not be humiliated or deprived of their universal human rights, including banning them from sports. However, the protection of the rights of such athletes should not be at the expense of the interests of other athletes. Moreover, the author strongly believes it is unacceptable to artificially instill in international sports an ideology of protecting transgender sports as the core value of the Olympic movement and to allow this ideology to become dominant. The author of the article also offers specific legal proposals for improving athletes' gender identification and countering the spread of gender therapy and ideology in sport. Specifically, he believes it would be appropriate to standardize procedures for determining athletes' gender identity across all international and national federations, as well as to adopt legal and organizational measures to limit and prohibit athletes' use of drugs that alter their gender appearance. In conclusion, we would like to note that Anatoly Peskov's article is undoubtedly very interesting and bold in its judgments; however, it reflects solely the author's personal opinion. We believe this article could be the subject of discussion at the 28th Congress of the International Association of Sports Law (IASL) on December 3-4, 2026, in Rome, Italy, where issues related to transgender sports are planned to be addressed. We look forward to scholarly discussions on these issues and wish our Chairman of the Board of Directors, Anatoly Peskov, every success in his work.

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