Men in Women’s Sports Is Becoming a Major Political Issue
Of everything churning in the political soup this election cycle, biological men playing in women’s sports is one of the biggest affronts to common sense and one of the easiest layups for conservatives to gain the votes of right-thinking Americans. It’s up there on the “Incomprehensible Index” alongside the inability to define a woman.
The political needle is moving on the transgenders-in-sports issue.
However, it is almost a religious issue for the Left. Men in women’s sports is the latest battlefield in the Left’s attack on traditional societal values and, arguably, the most destructive. It is an attack on the most basic human distinction — that between male and female. Allowing men to play in women’s sports has become a required tenet of the Left’s ideology — a prerequisite for membership in the liberal elite and a hill to die on.
But, as I said, the political needle is moving.
According to the Wall Street Journal, some Democratic Senate candidates in close races are getting hit hard on the issue. In Ohio, Sen. Sherrod Brown is being attacked in an ad for letting “transgender biological men participate in women’s sports.” He voted down an amendment by Sen. Tommy Tuberville that would have stripped funding to schools that allowed men to participate in women’s sports. Senate Democrat incumbents in Wisconsin and Montana are also feeling the heat. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board writes:
An ad in Wisconsin says Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin “voted to let biological men into women’s sports.” Republican challenger Eric Hovde gets spontaneous applause when he raises the issue at campaign events. In Montana, an ad says Sen. Jon Tester “voted to let men compete against our girls,” and “those aren’t Montana values.” The proliferation of these arguments against so many Democratic incumbents suggests it’s resonating with the public.
Also, Sen. Ted Cruz unveiled blistering ads that accuse his opponent, Colin Allred, of supporting biological men playing women’s sports and boys using women’s locker rooms.
If this issue is not a guaranteed political winner, then there is no such thing. The issue polls better than almost any other in this election cycle.
Gallup polling in 2023 reported that 93 percent of Republicans believe athletes should play only on teams that match their “birth gender” — this is up from 86 percent in 2021. Among Democrats, support for teams determined by “birth gender” is 48 percent — up from 41 percent. And finally, 67 percent of Independents believe “birth gender,” rather than “gender identity,” must determine which teams athletes compete on.
Overall, 69 percent of Americans agree that people should play on the team that matches their biological sex, up from 62 percent in 2021, while only 26 percent of Americans are willing to allow athletes to play on teams that matched their gender identity. (LISTEN FOR MORE: The Spectator P.M. Ep. 84: Transgender Sports Concerns Surprise Democrats)
Recently, on The Faulkner Focus all-women town hall, Donald Trump took advantage of this polling trend and indicated support for banning the participation of biological men in women’s sports.
On the legal front, a number of college swimmers, volleyball players, and runners brought a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in March. They allege that the governing body of the NCAA violated their Title IX rights by allowing men to compete against them in athletic events.
The pushback against liberal orthodoxy is happening more and more where you would most expect it — on the playing field. Collegiate swimming brought the issue to the fore in 2022 with the Lia Thomas scandal. Thomas, a biological male and a good (not great) male swimmer, transitioned and became a “female” champion by winning the 500-meter freestyle race at the women’s NCAA championship. Since Thomas’ “triumph,” sports like cycling, track and field, and boxing have all featured biological men winning championships in women’s events.
Women’s volleyball has recently been enjoying an astronomical rise in popularity — over-the-air networks and sports-only cable networks are featuring regularly scheduled matches. But transgender controversies are now plaguing it as well.
Five schools have canceled women’s volleyball contests against the San José State University Trojans. Although most of the schools have not given a specific reason for the cancellation, the Trojans feature a transgender player. The 6 foot, 1 inch tall outside hitter Blaire Fleming is gaining national attention for the speed with which he spikes the ball. Boise State University, University of Wyoming, Utah State University, and Southern Utah University have all opted out of contests against San José State University.
Just last week, the players on the University of Nevada, Reno team voted not to compete in their Oct. 26 match against the Trojans.
The University of Nevada players did give their reason for canceling: “We demand that our right to safety and fair competition on the court be upheld. We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.” The university, however, went to great pains to distance itself from the decision, releasing a statement saying, “[T]he players’ decision does not represent the position of the University …. [and] the University intends to move forward with the match as scheduled.”
As odd as it seems, this is a breakthrough. Female college athletes are standing up for the integrity of women’s athletics. Demanding no men on the court, on the field, in the pool, or in the ring seems like a no-brainer. But the pressure from their peers — all indoctrinated college students who exert extreme social pressure to comply with the transgender ideology — must be enormous.
Adding to the social pressure is the unrelenting pressure coming from the woke world of sports journalism. Dan Zachsheske, writing at Outkick, highlights the pushback he received for asking University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley what she thinks of men suiting up with women basketball players. The response from the media group-think has been similar to this tweet from Lindsay Gibbs: “Dawn Staley says trans women should be allowed to play women’s sports. … What an incredible statement of inclusivity from Dawn. Wow.” (RELATED: Great Coach Stumbles on Transgenders in Sports)
However, more female athletes are braving the recrimination of their peers and the liberal media by standing up for the integrity of women’s sports. A high school runner in Washington State is speaking out. A high school soccer team in New Hampshire voted to cancel a match against a team with a biological boy.
In a rare turnabout, a golfer who identifies as transgender refused to compete in the women’s league going forward after realizing “that biological realities are real and competitive advantages will always exist despite what number of years you’ve transitioned or whatever surgeries and hormones you’ve done.” The golfer followed that up by saying, “[M]y place is not in women’s sports.”
The Wall Street Journal calls biological males competing in women’s sports a “sleeper issue” in this campaign. Why such a flagrant attack on common sense — much less women — has been allowed to “sleep” is a testament to the lack of imagination, or courage, on the part of Republicans.
Let’s hope they can wake it up in time to gain significant traction in this election cycle.
READ MORE from Tom Raabe:
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