Boys Will Be Boys…Or Not
Transgenderism has become a hot stove topic. Touch it and you’re apt to get burned. As an education major at the State University of New York at Geneseo quickly discovered. His crime: suggesting on social media that “a man is a man,” and “a woman is a woman.” Established biology aside, appears he stepped over the invisible social cancel-culture line and was actually suspended from school (now re-instated) for his apparently currently incorrect assertion. Think there might possibly be freedom of speech issues on America’s campuses?? Anyway, go against the in-vogue notion that there are actually more-then-two-genders, and you are automatically far too white, a racist, and a Miss Ogynist (your elderly, easily-embarrassed, 8th grade hygiene teacher). This post will not get into the whole two-gender discussion for fear of being expelled by SUNY-Geneseo right before the prom (tux rented). The issue is far too complicated and problematic. But we will take a look at one news-making aspect of the phenomenon, that of trans-boys-to-girls competing in girls’ sports.
Landing the issue on front pages again was Mr. Biden’s decision, via executive order (just one of his much-photographed stack) on Day One which, in part, “prohibited discrimination based on gender identity in school sports” (i.e., all schools receiving federal funds). This has triggered vigorous objections, even leading to lawsuits. Said one female high school athlete: “People should realize that a lot of biological females have missed out on making it to meets that really matter, like states and regionals, and that transgender athletes have taken spots on the podium that belong to biological females. We train for so many days a week, so many hours, to be the best in our state and the best in our region, and these biological males are just taking it away from us, and we really deserve it.” Said an attorney for the girls in a Connecticut lawsuit, referring to Mr. Biden’s order: “This is clearly a politically motivated decision to side with radical activists over female athletes.”
Polling, and in this case with perhaps more impact, coming as it does from a left-leaning publication source, shows that, for the most part, Americans favor over-riding political correctness in favor of leaving girls’ sports to biological girls. The Politico/Morning Consult poll reported that “overall, 53% of registered voters support banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.” Interestingly, 59% of men polled supported such a ban, while 46% of women supported it. One would have expected the female vote to have been higher, much higher. Republicans, by the way, came in at 74% in favor of a ban. Democrats not so much…just 40% in favor.
In an interview regarding this issue, and public polling in favor of keeping the biological genders separate in sports, the attorney in the Connecticut suite responded: “There is still common sense with the American people and the Biden administration is just completely out of touch in pushing these radical policies that are not just anti-woman, they’re anti-science, and it fails to recognize the real physical differences between men and women, boys and girls. The reason that we have women’s sports as a separate category in the first place, which, again, is to ensure that young women have the opportunity to be on the podium and earn those medals and those scholarship opportunities.”
To date, at least three states have passed and signed into law legislation requiring student athletes to play only on teams based on their “sex recognized at birth.” Mississippi led the pack, with the ban applying to both public schools and public universities/colleges within the state. Said Governor Tate Reeves: “I will sign our bill to protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities. It’s crazy we have to address it, but the Biden E.O. forced the issue.” West Virginia also responded to the E.O. by passing, overwhelmingly, legislation to keep the athletes competing separately. Then, Arkansas’s governor signed off on their legislation “banning transgender female-identifying athletes from participating in women’s sports. Said Governor Asa Hutchinson: “This law simply says that female athletes should not have to compete in a sport against a student of the male sex when the sport is designed for women’s competition. This will help promote and maintain fairness in women’s sporting events.” South Dakota’s governor will likely sign some form of this prohibition. Her Senate passed the bill, but she has decided to send it back for revisions. Similar prohibition legislation has been introduced this year in over 20 states, including those above.
It’s just all a question of competitive fairness. And, ultimately, preserving separate women’s athletics in America, the future of which is clearly endangered by bigger, stronger, faster biological male competitors. By the way, as a related aside, “the suicide rate for transgender people is nearly 10-times the national rate.” Dangerous choices, especially for younger children encouraged or driven to transgender status far before they are able to make an informed, “adult” decision of such lasting physical, mental, and social impact.
ADDENDUM (3-27-21): Tennessee has now also passed into state law legislation banning biological males from participating in women’s athletics.
(Geneseo suspension stats via breitbart.com, Alana Mastrangelo, 3-26-21; Biden executive order quote via dailymail.com, Adam Schrader, 2-24-21; Female athlete quote/lawyer quote via dailymail.com, Adam Schrader, 2-24-21; Polling figures on banning transgenders from girl’s athletics via dailywire.com, Ryan Saavedra, 3-10-21; Connecticut suit attorney quote via dailysignal.com, Kelsey Bolar, 3-5-21; Mississippi governor quote via dailywire.com, Ryan Saavedra, 3-6-21; Arkansas Governor’s quote via dailywire.com, Tim Pearce, 3-25-21; Transgender suicide rate stat via wptv.com, Kai Beech, 11-13-19).