Real Women in Sports Need Real Protections from Obvious Injustices
Op-Ed by Representative Rachelle Smit, Michigan’s 43rd District
Men have no place in women’s sports. On average, men are physically larger, faster, and stronger than women. Allowing men to compete in biological women’s athletics gives them an obviously unfair competitive advantage. But even beyond the unfairness of it – should young high school and college girls be forced to shower in the locker room with biological males? Frankly, it’s creepy, and no young woman should be forced to endure this depraved nonsense.
While it’s shocking that this even must be debated, it’s also shocking that political elites are encouraging the violent repression of those who oppose men in women’s sports. There is a violent and deranged socio-political movement attempting to force all Americans to accept their insanity as objective reality. Americans need to stand strong and demand their political leaders protect our daughters’ health and well-being. No, men cannot play in women’s sports.
As with professional sports, college sports also ban the use of steroids, human growth hormone, and other substances – commonly referred to as “anti-doping” policies. Athletes who illicitly use these substances face suspensions or expulsions from their sports. And the reason is obvious: these substances radically enhance the size and strength of human bodies, and give the user a wholly unfair advantage over their competitors. The substances also happen to be dangerous.
Everyone agrees that anti-doping policies are essential for fair play. Recently, however, the Biden Administration announced Title IX changes that will force colleges to allow biological males into female sports, so long as the biological male self-identifies as a female. This is the equivalent of forcing colleges to allow “doping” for those who are politically preferred.
For example, a biological man (formerly “Will Thomas”) who identifies as a woman (now “Lia Thomas”), spent the first 3 years of his college career on the men’s team, before switching to the women’s team in her senior year. Photos of Thomas standing next to actual female competitors display a shocking juxtaposition: at 6’4”, Thomas is a giant by comparison. In March of 2022, Thomas won the 2022 NCAA national championship for the 500-yard freestyle. At the conclusion of Thomas’s swimming career at UPenn in 2022, Thomas’ rank had moved from 65th on the men’s team to FIRST on the women’s team in the 500-yard freestyle, and from 554th on the men’s team to FIFTH on the women’s team in the 200-yard freestyle.
Interestingly, at the 2022 NCAA finals, Thomas tied University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in the 200-yard freestyle, but he still ended up getting the trophy because he was the politically preferred swimmer. So, some players get a free license to cheat or “dope,” while others are forced to settle for lower competitiveness. If this continues, what effect is this going to have on the self-esteem of hundreds of thousands of high school and college female athletes?
Riley Gaines was rightfully upset that she had been snubbed in a tie, but also because her competition was bigger, faster, and stronger than her. To wit: her competitor was a fully grown biological male. Gaines subsequently went on to be a national advocate for mandating real women in women’s sports. Earlier this month, Gaines was asked to speak at San Francisco State University, but was prevented from doing so when a violent mob of students assaulted her. She had to be whisked away to a safe room and detained for 3 hours before San Francisco police were able to restore order.
Just because a man calls himself a woman doesn’t make it so. Self-identification cannot change immutable biological attributes. These attributes cannot be wished away or ignored. A “woman” with male genitals is not in fact a biological woman. The powerful trans-in-sports lobby is obsessed with forcing us to normalize mental illness, to the point of violently repressing those who speak the truth.
A biological male cannot play in women’s sports. It’s not fair and it’s not safe. The madness needs to stop. But it will only stop when more of us take a stand against the trans-in-sports lobby, and demand our leaders protect our daughters.
