Bill would ban trans athletes from competing in women's sports | GARY COSBY JR.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to pass HR 734, a bill designed to prevent people who were born genetically male from participating in sports for women and girls. The act, known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act 2023, was unanimously approved by the Republican majority and unanimously opposed by the Democratic minority.
I don’t understand this vote. A person beyond puberty who is born genetically male should have no expectation that he or they can participate against women on an even field. No matter how you feel about transgender rights, a person born male almost always is physically stronger and faster than someone born genetically female.
Sexual dimorphism is real, no matter how you feel about the transgender issue. Let’s be honest for a moment. How many women can compete on an equal footing with men in most sports? There are a few, but the number is miniscule. Perhaps there are some at the highest levels of competition, but think about your local high school and youth sports teams.
That does not demean women in the least, but everything works against women in a physical contest with males. Men are typically larger, stronger and faster. Maybe we’ve watched too many movies where women beat men up, but in real life that rarely happens. The physical structure is different between males and females and thank God that is the truth.
You won’t see women stepping into the boxing ring with men. After childhood, you will not see women on the football field except in the role of kicker or punter. You won’t see women playing baseball, though that is the one sport where it might be possible. You won’t see women competing on the basketball court with men. The physical disparities are simply too great. After puberty, males rapidly gain the ability to physically dominate women in most sporting endeavors.
This isn’t even a political issue, though the House has made it one. This is a common-sense issue. What this comes down to is an issue of rights. The question is should a person who decides he is no longer male have a greater right than those who are participating in life within the parameters of their birth sex. The answer is clearly, no.
Having a sexual identity crisis does not give anyone the right to take advantage of anyone else and that is what permitting a genetic male to compete with genetic females is doing. There have been examples where this was permitted, and the genetic male completely dominated the sport. It is flatly unfair to those who are genetically female to be put in competition against genetic males.
In fact, it is not fair to women to allow someone to compete even after someone has had a full sex change operation that removes the male sexual organs because the male bone and muscular structure remains. There may be some test in the future to determine that a person has become fully female and can then compete on an equal footing. That is beyond my knowledge, but to allow competition simply because someone declares himself to be female is absurd in the extreme. Such a thing would ruin women’s athletics at every level.
If you have read my earlier columns, you are aware that I am for the equal treatment under the law for transgender people and efforts by some legislative bodies to discriminate against them are wrong. This is not that type situation.
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The bill voted on in the House of Representatives is not designed to discriminate against transgender people, rather it is a protection for genetic females against unfair competition by genetic males.
This issue is more important than you might think. College scholarships and even professional contracts can be on the line. That means a great deal of money, and to a family that is poor and unable to send a daughter to college, an athletic scholarship might be her only way to get a higher education. If a genetic male is permitted to compete in her sport it can deny the genetic female the ability to earn that scholarship or professional contract.
If you wish to create bathrooms and dressing rooms for transgender individuals, I’m all for it. If you wish to ensure that transgender individuals can serve on equal footing in the military, police, fire, and public service jobs, I’m all for that as well. I’m all for equal opportunity in education and the work force for every citizen. I am for ensuring equal rights for all citizens.
However, the issue of athletic performance is not one of those areas because it does not create a place of equivalence. Just the opposite is true, as it sets genetic males in a position to dominate a sport designed to be played by genetic females. By giving genetic males the ability to compete against genetic females you are creating a discriminatory situation that hurts genetic females and that is not something I am for in any way.
The bill the House approved can be read at the following link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/734/text
Gary Cosby Jr. is the photo editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why ban trans athletes from competing against women? | GARY COSBY JR.
