The U.S. House of Representatives took a major step recently in attempting to halt what many believe to be the slow death of competitive women’s sports.
The House passed legislation that bars transgender women and girls from competing on female teams in public schools. While the bill has little to no chance of becoming law under the Democratic Biden administration, it still reflects the feeling of many Americans that a line has been crossed when athletically superior men-by-birth are able to dominate in games meant for women.
If, as expected, the GOP law is shut down and boys and men who identify as women are allowed to compete on the women’s field, then all schools that accept federal funding—Las Virgenes and Oak Park included—will be required to make big changes next year in their athletic programs. Talk about a game-changer.
In 1972 President Richard Nixon signed into law the federal civil rights measure known as Title IX. Three years later, Title IX was amended to require schools provide equal athletic opportunities for students regardless of sex. For example, school playing fields for boys aren’t supposed to be better than those for girls. But Title IX never addressed the unbalancing that might occur when gender lines are blurred.
President Joe Biden pushed for a rule that would forbid a blanket ban on transgender athletes in school sports, a ban the GOP hopes for, because such a move would be in violation of Title IX’s equality goals. It’s likely he’ll get his way and, if he does, the U.S. Department of Education will be able to force schools to allow transgender students to participate on teams “consistent with their gender identity,” and to penalize those that don’t.
Yes, all males and females—plus those who identify as non-binary—should have equal access to school sports programs. The harm to biological females, however, is undeniable. In high school, where state titles and college scholarships are on the line, the biological differences favor the male when they are allowed to compete on a women’s team.
One of the highest profile athletes who was born a male and competed as a female—and became a lightning rod in the debate—is former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who at one time was ranked 554th in the men’s 200 freestyle. After transitioning as a female, Thomas outpaced the competition and became one of the top-ranked swimmers in the women’s arena.
It’s not just school sports that are dealing with the issue. Female MMA fighter Tamikka Brents had her skull broken during a match with former fighter Fallon Fox, who, for seven years competed as a female after being born a biological male named Boyd Burton—and told no one.
The educational nonprofit Independent Women’s Forum took a look at the proposed Biden rule and found, in addition to allowing males who identify as female to compete on women’s sports teams and to receive academic and athletic awards for females, the rule would require schools “to allow males who identify as women to share dorm rooms and locker rooms with females, join sororities and access campus women’s centers.”
If the recent House legislation is shelved and the Biden agenda is implemented next year, then a Title IX school near you, the one your son or daughter attends, will be hard at work revising policies and procedures so that biological boys may compete in girls’ sports.
It’s important to keep in mind the big irony here. If males are allowed to compete as something other than what their biology assigns at birth, then all the great strides made by Title IX those many years ago could be for naught.
Why? Because when it comes to doing sports on this new playing field, the ground is anything but level.