A new report released Tuesday by Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) puts a hard number on a problem women’s sports advocates have been warning about for years: 2,293 transgender athletes have won medals in female sporting events in the United States.
The group compiled its data from HeCheated, a website that tracks transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports at the amateur and professional level. HeCheated’s records stretch back to the mid-1980s, though CWALAC notes the exact count has not been independently verified.
The numbers go beyond medal counts. According to the report, transgender athletes have competed in more than 14,301 sporting events and collected over $501,498 in professional prize money. California alone accounted for roughly 611 cases in which a female athlete finished second behind a biological male, a figure CWALAC says is up from 2025.
In Massachusetts, the issue has reached the high school level. A social media post highlighted a girls’ volleyball roster where, per the post, biological males filled all six positions on the court for a match on the lower net, with a 17-year-old middle blocker among those speaking out under the hashtag #SaveGirlsSports.
What CWALAC’s president said
CWA president Penny Nance did not mince words about the findings.
“It is shockingly unfair for biological women to have to compete against trans-identifying men. Our research finding that trans-identifying males have stolen over 2,293 gold medals from women in the United States is an outrage. Biological men have distinct advantages over biological women. This reality not only puts women in harm’s way, but it eliminates opportunities for biological women to earn a living and win competitions. Congress must act to protect biological women.”
A problem with a longer history than most realize
While CWALAC’s figures go back to the 1980s, HeCheated’s own archive runs deeper — 106 pages of documented cases. The earliest entry dates to August 1927, when Stella Walsh won the first of two full pages of track meet victories.
Walsh, competing under the name Stanislawa Walasiewicz, won gold in the 100-meter race at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics with a time of 11.9 seconds. She also competed at the 1936 Berlin Games, where she was beaten by 0.2 seconds. Walsh lived her life as a woman, but an autopsy performed after her death in 1980 revealed she had mosaicism, a chromosomal condition that can result in sexually ambiguous genitalia.
Democrats absent from the hearing
Despite the volume of data CWALAC has assembled, not a single Democrat showed up to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on fairness, safety and opportunity in women’s sports. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) called out the no-shows during the hearing.
The absence has become a talking point for critics who argue Democrats claim to champion women while declining to engage on an issue directly affecting female athletes’ opportunities and safety.
