Open Letter to US Figure Skating

As skaters, coaches, supporters, and fans, we have a vested interest in the present and future of figure skating. For many of us, skating plays an integral role in both our communities and our livelihoods. Ice rinks have long been the place we have turned, not just to strive for competitive excellence, but to experience the joy and belonging of skating. 

As one of the largest national governing bodies of figure skating in the world, U.S. Figure Skating (USFS) has the opportunity, and obligation, to set a standard for our sport worldwide and establish a vision for the future of figure skating for years to come. 

As such, we strongly condemn the organization’s decision to limit the participation in the “female” category of skating to athletes who were assigned female at birth. This policy, which can be found on the USFS Policies and Governance page under “U.S. Figure Skating Category Policy,” is harmful to the skating community for many reasons. It creates a culture of exclusivity, threatens the safety of all women in the sport, and denies trans skaters opportunities that all skaters deserve.

In communications on this issue, USFS has claimed to be “one of the most inclusive sports.” But with the implementation of this policy, we fail to move progress alongside national governing bodies like Skate Canada, which  has actively advanced inclusion at all levels, including  through codifying a policy that allows all skaters to compete in the divisions that align with their gender identities (Skate Canada 2023). In addition, this new USFS policy directly conflicts with the International Skating Union (ISU) policy on transgender athletes, which permits the participation of transgender women who meet the eligibility criteria listed in the ISU Transgender Policy (ISU Communication No. 2595). 

Not only does the new USFS policy fall pronouncedly short of its own stated commitments to inclusion, it positions the federation, and in turn, us as members of the U.S. skating community, as more exclusionary and less welcoming than others in the global skating community.

This decision was justified by the rationale of “ensuring that women have a fair and safe competition environment.” Still, there is no evidence that the participation of trans women and girls inhibits safety in figure skating in any way (Pavlenko 2024; Baeth 2025). In contrast, there is significant evidence that limiting trans participation hurts all women and girls in sports (Goldberg, 2021; Posbergh et al. 2024).

Figure skating has a complicated legacy of policing bodies. Historically, women (and men) in skating have been held to rigid standards of appearance, dress, and behavior (Adams, 2010; Rand, 2012; Thurber, 2021). These standards have been linked to both mental and physical harm in numerous athletes, including countless members of Team USA. 

This policy change will lead to further harassment of girls and women who are deemed insufficiently feminine-presenting by coaches, officials, and spectators. Moreover, this policy will also lead to further discrimination against women of color, whose femininity is already disproportionately scrutinized in athletics (Travers 2024). In recent years, US Figure Skating has claimed a goal of addressing racial diversity within the organization, and this policy poses a direct conflict to that commitment. We can create more safety for women and girls in skating only by expanding parameters of femininity, not narrowing them. 

We love skating because of the way it enriches our lives. It serves as a way to remain physically active. It offers a creative outlet. It is a tool for maintaining mental health. It opens doors to a vibrant and encouraging community. Trans skaters deserve access to these benefits as much as any other skater. An article published on US Figure Skating’s own website in 2022 (Rabinowitz) quotes trans skater Billie O’Neel: “Skating was a lifesaver for me.” We believe a policy that would deny any skater this kind of life-saving access is neither in the best interest of anyone nor the sport as a whole.

Finally, there is almost nothing that speaks to a lack of fairness more than barring skaters from competition on the basis of identity. By being denied the opportunity to compete, the efforts of trans skaters are being hindered before their skates are laced and their blades touch the ice. 

Trans skaters have always been a part of our community. They provide unique perspectives which are crucial to a sport that thrives on creativity and artistic expression, and they demonstrate the kind of resilience that is central to skating’s fundamental values. Their presence makes our ice rinks a better place.

As members of the skating family, we refuse to stop striving for a future that truly centers compassion, inclusivity, and athlete wellbeing. For these reasons, we ask that the Category Policy for U.S. Figure Skating Sanctioned Competitions be revoked. 

SIGNED:

Joe Johnson

Eri Lee

Anna Kellar

Karina Manta 

Jimmy Morgan

Erica Rand

Sources:

Adams, M. L. (2010). From Mixed-Sex Sport to Sport for Girls: The Feminization of Figure Skating. Sport in History, 30(2), 218–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2010.481208

Baeth, A., Posbergh, A., Bekker, S., & Rochon, R. (2025). Sports and the Limits of the Binary: The Contested Terrains of Trans and Nonbinary Athlete Inclusion. Sociology of Sport Journal, 42(3), 245-252. https://doi-org.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/10.1123/ssj.2025-0128

Clark, C. M., & Kosciw, J. G. (2022). Engaged or excluded: LGBTQ youth’s participation in school sports and their relationship to psychological well‐being. Psychology in the Schools, 59(1), 95–114. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22500

DeChants, J. P., Green, A. E., Price, M. N., & Davis, C. K. (2022). “I Get Treated Poorly in Regular School—Why Add To It?”: Transgender Girls’ Experiences Choosing to Play or Not Play Sports. Transgender Health, trgh.2022.0066. https://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2022.0066

Posbergh, A., Bekker, S., Cooky, C., Pape, M., Teetzel, S., & Travers. (2024). Critical Reflections on the Governance of Women and Gender Expansive Athletes: An Intersectional Interdisciplinary Dialogue. Sociology of Sport Journal, 41(4), 353–361. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2023-0183

Rabinowitz, E. (2022). Hiding In Plain Sight. US Figure Skating: Skater Spotlight. https://web.archive.org/web/20220617195756/https://www.usfigureskating.org/news/article/hiding-plain-sight

Rand, E. (2012). Red Nails, Black Skates: Gender, Cash, and Pleasure On and Off the Ice. Duke University Press.

Skate Canada (2023). Skate Canada Trans Inclusion Protocol. January 25. https://skatecanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Trans-Inclusion-Protocol.pdf

Travers, A. (2009). The Sport Nexus and Gender Injustice. Studies in Social Justice, 2(1), 79–101. https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v2i1.969

Thurber, B. A. (2021). The English Style: Figure Skating, Gender, and National Identity. Sport History Review, 52(2), 332–355. https://doi.org/10.1123/shr.2020-0023

Grenfell, C. C., & Rinehart, R. (2003). Skating on Thin Ice: Human Rights in Youth Figure Skating. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 38(1), 79–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690203038001729

Travers. (2024). The Carceral Logic of Female Eligibility Policies: Gender as a Civilizing Narrative, the Science of Sex Testing, and Anti-Trans Legislation1. Sociology of Sport Journal, 41(3), 213–223. https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.2024-0135