Fairness in Women's Sports – Page 4

Guest Column: Chromosomes Have Consequences

Jan 23, 2024John StonestreetTransgenderFairness in Women's Sports, Transgender

A recent study highlighted by King’s College London suggests that, wait for it, sex is a greater predictor of athletic performance than gender identity. The study found that in the “nonbinary” category of races, men outperformed women.

The researchers were careful to note that not much research has been done in this area … unless I’d add, you consider the history of sport.

That we need this study reveals much more about our cultural moment than it does about runners. To say that men and women are different is to say something that was universally obvious until just yesterday.

The created differences between men and women aren’t a bug of our humanity but a feature, beautifully leading to differences in many areas of life. Women’s sports should be protected because, if they aren’t, men will continue to steal the place of women, not only on the winner’s podium but in other areas of life too.

Chromosomes, like ideas, have consequences.

Ohio House of Representatives Votes to Override SAFE Act Veto

Jan 11, 2024Jerry CoxTransgenderFairness in Women's Sports, SAFE Act, Sex-Reassignment, Transgender

On Wednesday, the Ohio House of Representatives voted 65-27 to override Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of the state’s Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act. It’s now up to the Ohio Senate to override the veto as well.

Ohio’s H.B. 68 is similar to two laws Arkansas passed in 2021.

The bill prohibits doctors in Ohio from giving a child puberty blockers or performing a sex-change surgery on a child.

It also prevents biological males from competing against women in women’s athletics at public schools as well as colleges and universities.

In 2021, lawmakers in Arkansas overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act and the Save Women’s Sports Act.

The SAFE Act is a good law that prevents doctors in Arkansas from performing sex-change surgeries on children or giving them puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

Unfortunately, the SAFE Act has been tied up in court for more than two years, and a federal judge in Little Rock has blocked the state from enforcing the law. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office is appealing the case.

Sex-change surgeries and procedures can leave children sterilized and scarred for life.

Researchers do not know the long term effects puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids. That is why many experts agree that subjecting children to sex-change procedures is experimental, at best.

Not long after Arkansas passed the SAFE Act, a major hospital in Sweden announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids, and last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added a warning label to puberty blockers in America after biological girls developed swelling in the brain.

In 2021 Arkansas also passed Act 461 of 2021 protecting fairness in women’s sports at school by preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics.

This good law is in effect in Arkansas.

Over the past few years we have seen biological males dominate women’s athletics and compete for women’s athletic scholarships in some parts of the country.

For example, in 2019 Rachel McKinnon — a biological male who claims to be female — won the female Cycling World Championship. More recently, biological male Lia Thomas shattered women’s swimming records and was even nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year.

Letting men compete in women’s sports reverses 50 years of advancements for women and effectively erases women’s athletics.

It hampers girls’ abilities to compete for athletic scholarships, and it hurts their professional opportunities as adults. In some sports, it can even be dangerous.

As we have noted repeatedly, public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans saying that it’s morally wrong to change genders and that athletes ought to compete according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity.

It’s good to see states like Ohio taking steps to protect children and preserve fairness in women’s sports.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Male Volleyball Player Offered Girls’ Scholarship

Jan 9, 2024John StonestreetTransgenderFairness in Women's Sports, Transgender

Recently, the University of Washington offered a girls’ volleyball scholarship to a 16-year-old boy. Swimmer Riley Gaines, perhaps the nation’s top advocate for female athletes, broke the news. In response, UW allegedly rescinded the scholarship offer, claiming that they didn’t know the recipient was male.

Some parents of girls who play in the same high school league as the boy have said that their daughters didn’t realize they were being forced to compete against a male until matches were underway. Of course, they shouldn’t have to think about it, and parents shouldn’t have to worry about it either.

It’s the school’s job, along with those tasked with governing school sports, to ensure fair competition and reasonable safety, and to protect the privacy of minors in spaces like locker rooms. But since many aren’t doing that job, like Ohio’s governor, parents have to be vigilant, ask the hard and awkward questions, and make the tough decisions.

After all, it’s only the new normal if everyone goes along.