Dear Editor,
It is the year 2023, acceptance has been moving across the globe. Acceptance for sexuality, gender identity, and much more. However, with this acceptance there is a definite advantage to those who identify as transgender. With the physiological differences between men and women and personal accounts to the unfair advantages, there is no wonder as to why there was a separation between these two genders.
Men and women have been separated in many ways including sports. Men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, etc. There are many sports in which the two have been separated, and with good reason. If we look at gymnastics closer, men have different events than women. This is because the men’s events were more strength based and the women’s events were more artistically or grace based. There are physiological reasons for this as well. Women tend to be more flexible than men. Another example of this is in figure skating. The physiology of a woman allows her to be able to bend backwards and bring her foot to her head, but male figure skaters are not flexible enough to do that, but they are able to lift another figure skater over their head.
Looking at gymnastics and figure skating we can see that men and women have vastly different physiologies which is why there is a separation between them. If we were to include transgender persons to enter the sports then that is simply unfair and playing the system. People who are identified male at birth will be stronger than people who are identified as female at birth, allowing someone who transitions from male to female to compete in women’s sports is not fair to the women who are competing. Let’s think about another example where separation is fair. The Paralympics. Persons with disabilities such as missing limbs or being paralyzed have a disadvantage when it comes to playing with completely able bodied people. They have their own division in sports to make it fair, there should be no change when it comes to transgender persons.
There are many specific examples of this across the country. One of the specific examples is Lia Thomas who recently joined the women’s college swimming competition and there are many different opinions about them. One of the best testimonies that we see about Lia Thomas is Riley Gaines who testified before the Virginia House Subcommittee about her experience of swimming with Lia Thomas. Gains talks about how Thomas was placing 400 at best in the men’s swimming college competition, however, is placing first in the women’s competition.
Gaines talks about how she and Thomas raced in the 200 freestyle which ended up in a tie, down the hundredth of a second, but the trophy was given to Thomas ahead of Gaines stating they were the winner instead of the race ending in a tie. When Gaines questioned why this was the decision, the NCAA said that Thomas needed to hold the trophy for photo purposes. Gaines goes even further than her experience of racing Thomas. She talks about how she, and all of the other female swimmers were forced to share a locker room with Lia Thomas, a 6’4” biological male with genitalia intact. They were not warned, nor were they asked for their consent. As they were undressing to get ready for competition they turned around to see a biological male watching them and exposing himself. So, not only are transgender people taking over sports, but they are also making others feel uncomfortable in the locker rooms and invading their privacy.
Another example is a high school transgender person, male to female transition, spiked a volleyball so hard into a female player’s face that she was injured. The Female student suffered multiple head and neck injuries from the transgender athlete, and yet no one saw this as a potential issue that might have arisen due to female athletes playing with transgender athletes.
Genders have been separated in sports for a multitude of reasons, physiology being the main one. Just because genders are separated in certain settings, doesn’t mean they are not equal, a common misconception. Men playing in a women’s division or competition is not fair to the women, and because we have this notion of acceptance going around, it makes judges pick the transgender athletes over stating a tie or female winners so that they have a good public face.
If people do not see the issue with transgender persons playing sports with cisgender persons, then I recommend taking a look at the science between male and female physiology and biology. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that transgender persons shouldn’t be allowed to compete, I however am offering the idea of a division for transgender persons instead. This can raise many new opportunities for other transgender athletes to come out and not feel like they have to hide behind a wall in order to feel safe. If this isn’t taken into consideration, then at the very least, college, high school, and even professional sports leagues should consider the idea of a non-binary locker rooms. If women are already being forced to compete with a biological male, then their comforts should at least be thought of when it comes to their privacy.
Rj Baker
Rock Springs
Reader Comments(0)