Heath Fogg Davis is a Professor of Political Science at Temple University. 

According to Davis’ website, the professor studies “discrimination and identity formation with the goal of puzzling out their complicated workings, while also highlighting the many organizations and individuals fighting for a better, more equitable world.”

Aside from teaching, Davis works “with companies and organizations to help them imagine, design, and achieve their diversity and inclusion goals.”

In a 2017 article for Powell’s City of Books titled “Do We Need Gender,” Davis writes about the subject of gender and its relevance to contemporary society.

In the article, Davis criticizes the “belief” that sex is determined by genitalia:  

“Many people still believe that sex is determined by genitalia. Girls have vaginas, and boys have penises … Most people who are born with penises and identified as male at birth go on to identify as boys and then men. And most people who are born with vaginas and identified as female at birth go on to identify as girls and then as women.”

He claims this belief can lead to transgender discrimination:

“This variation has repercussions for how we detect and fight transgender discrimination. Some people who identify as ‘trans’ experience transgender discrimination because others perceive them to have altered, or be in the process of changing their birth sex designation, or because they have disclosed such as transition. Some people who identify as trans do not experience transgender discrimination because they appear to others to be gender conforming. To further complicate matters, some people who do not identify as trans experience transgender discrimination because others perceive them as trans and/or gender non-conforming.” 

In another 2017 article titled “Why Testosterone Ranges Should Replace Sex-Segregation in Title IX Sports,” Davis argues in favor of athletes performing in sports based on their amount of testosterone rather than their biological gender. 

“[W]e can say that certain sex-related physiological features, such as muscle mass, lung capacity, and aggression, are relevant to ‘fair play.’ These mutable characteristics are affected by the amount of functional testosterone in an athlete’s body, not by the presence or absence of genitalia.”

He admits this change would not be easy and would result in certain social consequences:

“If we were to replace sex-segregation with testosterone levels in Title IX sports, we would, of course, not be making a trivial change. Part of the sense of ‘losing tradition’ is tied up with losing the social aspect of gender-based affinity that is considered formative to young athletes: girls and boys and women and men working together toward common goals and competing to achieve them”

Yet, Davis concludes the article by subtly expressing his favor for this form of collegiate athletics in light of other moves the NCAA has made:

“Replacing male and female competitive sports with hormone levels seems, on its face, radical, but the NCAA and other elite sports organizations have already begun rewriting the rules in favor of fair play.”

Please send information on Heath Fogg Davis to Watchlists@tpusa.com.

Published – June 10, 2024