As a woman, athlete, and gymnastics coach for girls and women, I urge the state of New Hampshire to continue protecting the rights of female athletes to fair competition, safety, and privacy — in high schools, middle schools, athletic training facilities, the YMCA and other adult athletic facilities.
The next generation of women and girls deserve the chance to be champions. I belong to a group of coaches and athletes across the country who have signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, representing girls and women and advocating for safety and fairness in their sports and related spaces.
In the state of New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 1205.
The bill requires New Hampshire student-athletes to play on sports teams that correspond to the biological sex recorded on their birth certificates. HB 1205 aims to protect the integrity of girls’ sports and prevent biologically male transgender students from gaining a competitive advantage over biological girls. The bill also sought to protect girls from being injured by biologically male athletes.
We want to thank Bronwyn Sims for this Contribution. Submit yours to steve@granitegrok.com
Unfortunately, this situation in New Hampshire continues to be challenged by the LGBTQ community and their supporters without factual data. This leaves women and girls to fend for themselves in competitions and protect themselves in locker rooms and bathrooms.
I ask you how this is fair. We are degrading and excluding women to allow “males that identify as transgender” into our sports and our spaces.
Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that male-female performance differences exist from the earliest stages of development. Studies also show that the male advantage cannot be mitigated by suppressing testosterone. In many sports, competition between female athletes and biological males is inherently unsafe. The conclusion is clear: the only way sports can be fair and equal for girls and women is via a protected female category.
Recognizing that surgeries or drugs cannot undo the effects of male puberty, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics recently updated its policy to ensure fair competition and compliance with Title IX. Their common-sense approach designates the male category as “open” to all athletes while restricting the female category to those born female and not on testosterone. This policy is straightforward and could serve as a model.
The competitive disadvantage created by the inclusion of biological males in girls’ sports has a deleterious effect on the joy, self-worth, and confidence female athletes derive from athletic participation. Female athletes are being cheated out of honors, rewards, and scholarships they have sacrificed to achieve and rightfully earned.
The issue of transgender participants in single-sex sports burdens female athletes almost exclusively. Consistent with gender stereotypes, they are expected to graciously accept such competitors despite the blatant unfairness. Women are conditioned to hide disappointment and be “sportsmanlike,” yet coaches see their performance degraded due to loss of incentive from knowing there is no chance of winning. This societal expectation for women to meekly put the wants of men ahead of their own needs is compounded by outright threats from administrators seeking to stamp out dissent. This stance is selfish, arrogant, and misogynistic.
The vast majority of coaches are adamantly opposed to biological males competing against women. Most fear to protest since that could jeopardize their job security, and their administrators often just wish to avoid controversy. The stakes are high.
We have only begun to see the devastating effects of this injustice caused by ignoring objective reality, blindly adhering to false platitudes about equality, and adopting irrational and oversimplified concepts of inclusion. Unless action is taken to stop this travesty, participation and opportunity within women’s sports will revert to pre-Title IX levels.