May 8, 2023
The Biden administration has proposed restructuring Title IX (the rule requiring women’s sports at colleges to be on par with men’s sports) to allow the participation of trans females in women sports. Republicans in the House of Representatives responded by voting in a party line vote of 219-203 to prohibit this change.
Before embarking on a further discussion, some background is required. Traditionally, human sex was defined by genetics. A male had XY chromosomes, and a female had XX chromosomes. When humans hit puberty, males create sperm and females create ova. Biology 101.
The transgender movement asserts that some males with XY chromosomes are actually female in their nature and were “misgendered” as males a birth because they possess male genitalia. These individuals are called trans females. Conversely, women with who are male in nature but were born with XX chromosomes and female genitalia are actually males who were also misgendered at birth and are called trans males. This movement contends that trans individuals have existed although human history but were forced by societal pressure to conform to gender stereotypes. Now they are asserting their rights.
In order to correct this misgendering, some transgender individuals opt to take hormones and may resort to genital changing surgery along with the addition or removal of breasts.
This movement also fights for the rights of trans women to participate in women’s sports. The problem is that trans women possess a Y chromosome, meaning that when they approach puberty, a hormone called testosterone is secreted resulting in increased muscle mass. Thus, trans females are stronger and faster than females with XX chromosomes, what are termed cis females.
This resulted in trans women disproportionately dominating women’s sports. The most famous incident was the transition of Lia Thomas, a 6’4” swimmer on the University of Pennsylvania men’s swimming team who was ranked 555th in the country. When he became a trans female, he quickly dominated the sport, shattering the women’s records at Penn and winning the NCAA 500-yard freestyle by over two seconds, the swimming equivalent of a first-round knockout.
There have also been scattered incidents of trans women dominating wrestling, cycling and weightlifting. But none of these women’s sports are on the radar of the general public. But there is one sport that is – women’s basketball – especially college basketball. The NCAA Women’s Championship between LSU (Louisiana State University) and Iowa garnered 7,700,000 viewers.
Trans female Mack Beggs pinning cis female
But what happens when a 6’10” male declares he is trans woman and walks onto the court in a women’s game? The cis women will have no chance. This person will be able to push them around like bowling pins, dominate the boards and score sixty points a game.
If this sounds farfetched, consider that this has already happened in Vermont where a high school girls’ basketball team refused to play against another team with a trans female. The school principal stated: “We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.”
Because women’s basketball is so popular, potential stars are on the radar of the elite teams by their early teens. And all elite women’s basketball coaches are masters of the main factor that determines their team’s success – recruitment.
Allowing trans women to play will change everything. The coaches will have to determine – and perhaps encourage – talented young boys to become trans women. The talented cis women, unless they favor unilateral disarmament, will have to transition to trans men to compete. Girls as young as thirteen years old will have to take male hormones, tolerate facial hair, risk future infertility and endure personality changes. Some may also have to have breast reduction or removal surgery (“top” surgery in transgender parlance). Even with these treatments, they probably will not be able to compete with trans women.
If this sounds ridiculous, WNBA (Women’s Basketball Association) stars Brittany Griner and Sue Bird have just endorsed allowing trans women to compete in women’s sports. The University of Pennsylvania was so proud of Lia Thomas that they nominated her for Woman of the Year.
Furthermore, women who object are met with resistance. Riley Gaines, an NCAA swimmer who tied Lia Thomas in the 200-meter freestyle, was physically assaulted by violent transgender activists when she spoke against allowing trans women to participate in sports. But local prosecutors failed to press charges against the assailants.
But the vast majority of cis women seem to have no objection to training endlessly and losing to trans women. And if they are willing to sheepishly accept this, they can continue to train endlessly and lose. Furthermore, these young women vote overwhelming for the Democrats. If that’s what they want; that’s what they get.
Trans female with two cis females who placed second and third in cycling race. The look on their faces show they have no objections.
Elite women’s basketball coaches have also been silent on this issue. This is a smart political move as many make huge seven-figure salaries and challenging the transgender orthodoxy could result in transgender mobs at their doorsteps. College presidents and administrators generally cave to these mobs and these coaches could lose their jobs. Better to just take the money and play ball.
Whether women’s basketball remains popular if it is taken over by transgender players remains to be seen. But I personally will narrow my interest to the Pittsburgh Steelers as it is unlikely, I will see any trans males on the field – unless they are playing the Patriots or the Cowboys.
Follow Joe Bentivegna on twitter @joebentivegnamd