AlamogordoTownNews.org and KALHRadio.org reports that there is no confirmed number of transgender athletes at the high school and college levels, though it is believed to be very small, fewer than 100 out of 8 million student athletes in the United States.
Not all transgender people identify as women, and an even smaller number consists of transgender women hoping to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
Privacy laws make it tough to identify the exact number of transgender athletes competing in public school sports, but researcher and medical physicist Joanna Harper estimates the number can’t exceed 100 nationwide, per reporting in Newsweek. New Mexico has had fewer than 3 in the last 5 years.
The topic has nonetheless become a hot-button issue among conservative groups and others who believe transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete on girls’ and women’s sports teams.
As reported by the Association Press at the time, Alamogordo a former school superintendent, Jarrett Perry, made it an issue even though the APS system did not have a single transgendered athlete involved in interscholastic sports at the time, and to date nver has had an “out” transgendered athlete arrempt to compete.
The result was the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico took issue with the proposal. The organization sent a letter to the school board saying such a policy if adopted by the district would violate state and federal law.