BY KYLE LOVERN
The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to prevent biological males from competing as transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports at schools nationwide.
I applaud this bill. However, President Joe Biden said he would veto the bill.
I am sorry, but those born male should not be allowed to compete against girls in sports. They have an obvious biological advantage and it’s just ridiculous.
Fair competition in women’s sports remains under attack as male athletes continue to join and compete on women’s teams and against women.
This is not a liberal and conservative argument but one of just common sense.
Several Democrats accused Republicans of “bullying” transgender students by calling up the bill. That’s a weak argument in my book.
Republicans defended the bill as an attempt to spare women and girls from competing against transgender women and girls – biological males who can sometimes dominate these sports and prevent some female athletes from making the team.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed in a 219-203 vote. All the “yes” votes came from Republicans, and all the “no” votes came from Democrats.
Some Democrat legislators argued in the debate that the Republican Party bill is an extension of the bullying that transgender students are already facing at school.
I’m not defending bullies. In fact, I hate any bullying in schools, workplaces or society. However, those born boys who become young men should not be able to compete against girls in sports.
But talk about bullies. Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines was barricaded in a room at San Francisco State University recently after she was physically assaulted following a speech to students about saving women’s sports at a Turning Point USA and Leadership Institute event on that campus.
It seems there is a double standard here.
When Gaines spoke to the students, many of whom expressed opposition to her viewpoints, her remarks were heckled and interrupted by a group of pro-trans protesters who had become increasingly loud outside the room.
So much for free speech.
For those of you who have daughters or granddaughters, do you want them to compete against a boy who dresses as a girl, wears makeup and says he identifies as a female? It’s unfair, and this could get out of hand.
What if a male is not a great athlete but is OK at basketball? He decides he can do better against the girls, identifies as a female, and goes out for the women’s team. It just wouldn’t be fair for those girls on the team.
It’s already happening in middle and high schools and colleges. If this bill is not implemented, it could eventually end up in the Olympics and women’s pro sports like the WNBA, golf and tennis.
Take track and field or swimming. Males with mediocre times can compete in the men’s category and completely dominate women’s events just a few weeks later. This happened in the sport of NCAA swimming.
Lia Thomas, who was born a male, won the Ivy League swimming title as a 6-foot-4 female after saying he was a woman. He was allowed to compete as a woman. Thomas, a transgender person, previously swam for the University of Pennsylvania men’s team. He couldn’t beat the men and decided to swim against the women.
The fact this was allowed to happen in our country is appalling!
Gaines, who competed for the University of Kentucky and raced against Thomas, has been outspoken against Thomas and this rule.
“Under the guise of competitive fairness? Are you really trying to say you would have won a national title against the men?” Gaines said.
Some states, like West Virginia and Florida, have passed their own bill against transgender people competing in girls’ sports.
It’s about biology. Whatever the birth certificate says is the sex when a person was born should be the easy answer to what sport they participate in.
It’s just common sense. But we’ve lost that in this country in the last few years.
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)