States Should Protect Women’s and Girls’ Sports

I am a transsexual. That is, I was born male and have undergone feminizing medical procedures. Earlier this year I testified before the Indiana legislature to support HB 1041, a bill that affirms the right for girls to compete in same-sex sports. The Indiana legislature passed the bill, but Gov. Eric Holcomb vetoed it. Because of my transsexual “identity,” my testimony made headlines in conservative media. Local media (which leans left in Indianapolis) largely ignored it.

It’s tempting to characterize this issue as Republican legislators waging a culture war against a marginalized group. But the ways in which women and girls are affected by the intrusion of biological males (however they identify) into what was previously protected as a single-sex activity is fundamentally about equity and fairness. With a clearer understanding of the language and intent of these kinds of bills, most Americans regardless of party would support protecting women’s and girls’ sports.

The ACLU has weighed in, representing the alleged right of biologically male children who identify as girls to participate in girls’ sports and compete against biologically female children. Their arguments rely on twisted logic, a denial of science, and a variety of distortions and falsehoods. The three most egregious are that bills that protect girls’ sports as single-sex competitions by banning male children who identify as girls have the effect of banning those biologically male children from playing sports at all; that there should be no distinction made between children who are biologically male and children who are biologically female––that male children who identify as girls should be classified as girls; and that it is compassionate for society to support this reclassification.

First, it is entirely untrue that sports bills prohibit male children who identify as girls from participating in school sports. Male children who identify as girls are still able to participate in boys’ competitive school sports and non-competitive mixed-sex sports. Instead of requiring girls’ sports to accommodate male children, we should have higher expectations of inclusion in boys’ sports.

The second falsehood is that male children who identify as girls are not male. While it is true that in many sports a prepubescent male child’s biology provides little to no advantage over a prepubescent girl’s, they are nonetheless not female. And boys who have gone through their natural puberty experience a very different kind of physical development from that of girls. This opens a wide gap in athletic performance between the sexes.

No matter how they identify, biologically male athletes do not compete at the female-typical level. In some sports, top male high school athletes even outperform Olympic-level female athletes. It is becoming increasingly evident that women are at a clear disadvantage when competing against biological males who identify as women.

The third distortion is perhaps the most barbaric: the pervasive and at times coercive reclassification of boys who struggle with gender identity issues as "female." This is not “progressive.” I can personally attest to the angst and alienation associated with gender dysphoria. Rather than reclassifying the sex of so many feminine boys and masculine girls, surely progressive change means accepting a wider range of masculinity and femininity in the gender expression of boys and men and girls and women.

Collectively participating in the gender dysphoria-induced illusion that these boys are actually girls –– and no different from their biologically female peers –– is not compassionate. It is cruel. True “gender affirming care” would be to help these children address their gender dysphoria with sensitivity, empathy, and compassion so they can come to accept the fact that they are biologically male, regardless of whether they are undergoing social or medical gender transition.

When the dust finally settles on the question of male inclusion in female sports, it will be apparent that the only reliable mechanism to protect fairness for girls and women is classification by sex –– not gender identification. This is an issue that reaches past partisan politics and into the foundations of fairness. It would be irresponsible for state legislatures to stand back while males replace females on winner’s podiums in girls’ sports. And when these females –– these girls –– grow up, they will remember who stood up for their rights and who did not.

The Indiana legislature must follow the lead of Kansas, Utah, and Idaho by overriding the governor’s veto to decisively protect girls’ rights. And every other state must enact similar bills to protect girls and women from being unable to compete in single-sex sports. If not, female athletes must be taught to smile bravely as they cede their victories to their male peers and accept that it is girls and women who must pay the price for inclusion.