Trans runner helps Camas girls win!
Well, yes, if you take a person who was a boy in September and change him to a girl in October, then put him on the girls’ cross country team, he, now she, just might help the girls win a meet. But who really wins in this case? Not the girls, in my humble opinion. Perhaps the girls should stop running and create a team of only trans girls? I know. Most schools don’t have enough trans athletes to pull this off. But something to think about.
This was a hot topic for about a day in September when Sophie Cunningham, who plays for the WNBA Indiana Fever stated her support for keeping trans athletes out of girls’ sports. College, professional, and Olympic sports already limit women’s teams to biological females, but this is still a contentious issue in high schools. Cunningham answered reporters questions by admirably saying she is not anti-trans, but believes that biological males have advantages in sports. For me, this is a no-brainer, but I continue to be surprised when friends hold to the view that trans athletes should not be discriminated against.
After the ruckus over Cunningham’s statements in support of restricting girls’ sports to biological girls, two retiring NBA players stated that they planned to try out for the WNBA draft next spring. OK, they were being facetious, but if we can’t agree on what a woman is, why wouldn’t guys who didn’t make the cut for the NBA try out for the WNBA. Or why wouldn’t a boy who placed 72nd in a boys’ cross country meet, simply say he’s a girl and try to get on the girls’ team where he might come in 2nd instead of 72nd a month earlier?
Part of the problem, aside from not being able to define woman, or girl, is that some states (e.g. my state of Washington) have “Self-ID” laws. Self-ID means that if you say you are a man, then you’re a man. If you say you are a woman, you are a woman, essentially erasing the definition of “woman.” Women have fought too long and too hard for our rights to concede to this without a fight, again, in my humble opinion.
Oddly enough, it’s just as hard to define trans as it is to define woman in a Self-ID state. Let’s take the student who was a boy in September and a girl in October for example. Few details are available about this student, so I’m speculating here. But obviously “she” can’t be very far along in the process of transitioning to female. Had he/she been on puberty blockers? For how long? Had he begun taking estrogen? If so, when? If he was taking estrogen, why would he have been on the boys’ team in September? Surely he hadn’t had bottom surgery yet as that’s quite a process. Honestly, I just genuinely wonder how serious this kid is about being trans. Perhaps he/she just wants to be on the podium to get a ribbon.
With adults, its also hard to nail down who is trans and who isn’t because gender ideology is very inclusive about who’s trans, who’s queer, who’s 2Spirit, how many genders there are, whether or not people with differences of sexual development, aka intersex people are trans (most are emphatically not trans and resent being included in the debate)? People claim trans identity if they have just started thinking about gender. In fact, that’s part of the process for some. People are often encouraged to “try out” a new gender identity before medicalizing. Schools encourage children to “socially transition” before starting hormones or undergoing surgeries. Girls use breast binders at school (often provided by teachers or counselors) but say nothing to their parents who might not approve. School employees are sworn to secrecy if students are reluctant to tell their parents that they want to transition – thinking that their parents might want to dissuade them. (Most parents would want to stall for time, I’m sure.) The state can actually remove kids from their home in certain situations if parents do not support transition. The whole thing is crazy, again, in my humble opinion.
If you’re feeling sorry for trans people because I’m not on board with all of their ideology, don’t. They have plenty of power to enforce cancelations. (Were you thinking WOKE was dead?) Here’s a current example that happened a block from my home: A restaurant was intimidated into canceling a reservation by a Republican group that meets there regularly because Brian Heywood was coming to their meeting. Brian Heywood, if you’re not up on things, is behind three initiatives on my ballot this fall, two of which relate to trans issues. It seems that trans activists have plenty of power in my town (Olympia). Do you doubt me? Please read, “Tolerance for Me, But Not for Three” in which Alesha Perkins provides extensively details the power of trans activists in Olympia.
And if that’s not enough to convince you that intolerance is serious business in Olympia, there’s my tiny story. I was blocked from using Reddit r/Olympia after this post:
Trans runner helps Camas girls win!
Well, yes, if you take a person who was a boy in September and change him to a girl in October, then put him on the girls’ cross country team, he, now she, just might help the girls win a meet. But who really wins in this case? Not the girls, in my humble opinion. Perhaps the girls should stop running and create a team of only trans girls? I know. Most schools don’t have enough trans athletes to pull this off. But something to think about.
This was a hot topic for about a day in September when Sophie Cunningham, who plays for the Indiana Fever stated her support for keeping trans athletes out of girls’ sports. College, professional, and Olympic sports already limit women’s teams to biological females, but this is still a contentious issue in high schools. Cunningham answered reporters questions by admirably saying she is not anti-trans, but believes that biological males have advantages in sports. For me, this is a no-brainer, but I continue to be surprised when friends hold to the view that trans athletes should not be discriminated against.
After the ruckus over Cunningham’s statements in support of restricting girls’ sports to biological girls’, two retiring NBA players stated that they planned to try out for the WNBA draft next spring. OK, they were being facetious, but if we can’t agree on what a woman is, why wouldn’t guys who didn’t make the cut for the NBA try out for the WNBA. Or why wouldn’t a boy who placed 72nd in a boys’ cross country meet, simply say he’s a girl and try to get on the girls’ team where he might come in 2nd instead of 72nd a month earlier?
Part of the problem, aside from not being able to define woman, or girl, is that some states (e.g. my state of Washington) have “Self-ID” laws. Self-ID means that if you say you are a man, then you’re a man. If you say you are a woman, you are a woman, essentially erasing the definition of “woman.” Women have fought too long and too hard for our rights to concede to this without a fight, again, in my humble opinion.
Oddly enough, it’s just as hard to define trans as it is to define woman in a Self-ID state. Let’s take the student who was a boy in September and a girl in October for example. Few details are available about this student, so I’m speculating here. But obviously “she” can’t be very far along in the process of transitioning to female. Had he/she been on puberty blockers? For how long? Had he begun taking estrogen? If so, when? If he was taking estrogen, why would he have been on the boys’ team in September? Surely he hadn’t had bottom surgery yet as that’s quite a process. Honestly, I just genuinely wonder how serious this kid is about being trans. Perhaps he/she just wants to be on the podium to get a ribbon.
With adults, its also hard to nail down who is trans and who isn’t because gender ideology is very inclusive about who’s trans, who’s queer, who’s 2Spirit, how many genders there are, whether or not people with differences of sexual development, aka intersex people and trans (most are emphatically not trans and resent being included in the debate)? People claim trans identity if they have just started thinking about gender. In fact, that’s part of the process for some. People are often encouraged to “try out” a new gender identity before medicalizing. Schools encourage children to “socially transition” before starting hormones or undergoing surgeries. Girls use breast binders at school (often provided by teachers or counselors) but say nothing to their parents who might not approve. School employees are sworn to secrecy if students are reluctant to tell their parents that they want to transition – thinking that their parents might want to dissuade them. The state can remove kids from their home if parents do not support transition. The whole think is crazy, again, in my humble opinion.
If you’re feeling sorry for trans people because I’m not on board with all of their ideology, don’t. They have plenty of power to enforce cancelations. (Were you thinking WOKE was dead?) Here’s a current example that happened a block from my home: A restaurant was intimidated into canceling a reservation by a Republican group that meets there regularly because Brian Heywood was coming to their meeting. Brian Heywood, if you’re not up on things, is behind three initiatives on my ballot this fall, two of which relate to trans issues. It seems that trans activists have plenty of power in my town (Olympia). Do you doubt me? Please read, “Tolerance for Me, But Not for Three” in which Alesha Perkins details the power of trans activists in Olympia.
And if that’s not enough to convince you that intolerance is serious business in Olympia, there’s my tiny story. I was blocked from using Reddit r/Olympia after this post:
Folks, trans ideology is entrenched. Trans activists have way more power than they deserve. Most people are blissfully unaware of what’s going on in the debate over trans issues and want to stay that way. I don’t blame them because there are so many other issues to care about. But, please, don’t assume you have to support trans ideology because it would be unkind not to. There’s a term for that : Suicidal Empathy.
