Lee Elci was half right in his column “Transgender athletes have unfair advantage” (June 27). That leaves him half wrong. How so? 

Elci should have begun, as I always do, by confirming his commitment to transgender rights in all non-sports arenas: civil, social, economic, and so on. This is a crucial first step. 

Second, he fails to acknowledge that The Equality Act has no hope for passage, at least for now, in the Republican-majority Senate. 

Nonetheless, I agree with Elci about the sports scene. The International Olympic Committee, the NCAA, and other global sports groups have adopted appropriate rules. These rules require transgender male-to-female athletes to lower their testosterone for 12 months prior to competing as females. 

This makes biological sense and supports the goals and successes of Title IX. Remember, Title IX exists to give females equality in sports opportunity, which includes a playing field that does not include high-testosterone athletes. 

I support The Equality Act in principle. When it does eventually pass, I hope it will include an exclusion for sports. I believe most of us can distinguish between the right to fair treatment in education, jobs, housing, etc. and the right to enter a 100-meter dash competition.

Amby Burfoot

Mystic

Editor's note: The author of the letter is an accomplished runner, including winning the Boston Marathon in 1968.