Integrity in Female Sports

A few days ago, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 6-4 against a Biden Administration plan that would have radically reshaped the landmark Title IX legislation put into place decades ago. The changes to the legislation would have essentially penalized schools that did not see it fit to allow biological males to complete side by side in sports among biological females.

This is yet another chapter in the national discussion about whether or not it is acceptable to allow biological males to complete in women’s athletics. 

While the first issue with biological males competing among women is fairness. The case of swimmer Lia Thomas comes to mind. Thomas, a biological male, was ranked 554 at the 200 freestyle when competing among men. Thomas ranked 65 in the 500 and 32 in the 1650 among men. After switching to complete against women, Thomas’s ranks soared to 5, 1, and 8 against the competition into those events. The biological advantage was undeniable.

Perhaps more importantly, another major issue is the concern for safety. Just weeks ago in the Paris Olympics, we witnessed two biological males physically pummeling women athletes in the women’s boxing competition. In perhaps an even more disturbing case, North Carolina high school senior Peyton McNabb suffered permanent severe injuries in a volleyball match in which a biological male spiked a ball directly into her face. The damage includes permanent whiplash, right side paralysis, impaired vision, anxiety and depression.

Sure, some women can do fairly well in competing versus men. The most famous case was that of tennis star Billie Jean King defeating a much older and out of his prime Bobby Riggs in what was billed as “The Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. But the fact of the matter is, the biological differences cannot be ignored, no matter how the athletes identify in terms of gender. No amount of transitioning can change some elements of the body. No matter what surgery is done, biological males will retain more muscle mass and several other factors that add up to an unfair advantage.  

The absurd level of political correctness here must be removed from the equation. We as a world cannot simply worry about how we might offend one person at the detriment of another. No person’s rights and feelings should outweigh someone else’s. We often consider the feelings of the transgender person in these situations while ignoring or dismissing those of the biological female.

So, what about transgender athletes who want to compete in sports? Should they not have the opportunity to participate? Of course they should. However, we as a society have to figure out the best, fairest and safest way to allow them to do so.

One possibility is to create a specific category for transgender athletes outside of men’s and women’s sports. The problem here is that the number of transgender individuals is so minute that there would likely not be enough athletes to participate at any level. A second option would be to allow for a “mixed” participant option, much like how tennis has the mixed doubles competitions in which each team has one male and one female. The Olympics also now feature a mixed track relay event that works much the same way. In a mixed completion featuring transgender athletes, one participant per team would be either a man or a woman, while the second would be a transgender athlete (both being the same biological gender on each side). This would make things fairer for everyone.

The bottom line is simple. While we can and should respect everyone for how they see themselves, it is imperative that we do what is best to protect the fairness, integrity of sport, and above all, safety of our young ladies competing in female athletics.