“The way I see it, Republicans won slightly less than 50 percent of the vote in a deeply strange election where the major issue seems to have been inflation. (Which Trump is already clearly making worse, but, alas.) That doesn’t give them a mandate on anything, let alone killing our trans friends.
But even if Republicans did win in a landslide, and even if the #1 issue was persecuting trans people… that would be all the more reason to defend trans rights. The time to stand up for people being persecuted is when they’re being persecuted. That’s today.”
I agree with so much of this, particularly your well-made point that the executive order and NCAA policy aren’t really about fairness in women’s sports.
And yet, there clearly is some kernel that *is* about fairness in women’s sports - like enabling biological women to actually win a swim meet and not be multiple seconds behind Lia Thomas.
After all, women’s sports exist because we acknowledge that women do not have the height, strength, speed, etc to compete with men. If anyone can play on a women’s team, it does lessen the justification for having a separate women’s division.
The concept of an “open” division and a “women’s” division - while allowing trans women to practice and receive medical care with the women’s team - frankly seems like the a pretty thoughtful and fair outcome.
We should stand up against anti-trans bullying where we see it - including and especially all the BS coming from Trump and his team - but I genuinely don’t think this specific NCAA policy is where I’d be aiming my fire.
you know Lia Thomas lost a bunch of races, right? she competed in 4 national championship races and only won 1 of them. how is that possible if she has vastly superior athleticism? she was a non-scholarship ivy league athlete, of course she won ivy league races, anyone competitive enough to compete nationally will dominate in the ivy league. anyone who knows ball knows this.
Also women's sports don't exist because, "we acknowledge that women do not have the height, strength, speed, etc to compete with men" as you claim. Women's sports exist because men banned women from participating in athletics. Learn your history if you want to make claims like this.
The push for women's athletics was *never* about creating sex segregated sports, it was about integration and it failed.
This ban in mostly impacting high school and jr high athletics which are supposed to be about having fun with friends, learning how to navigate group dynamics, and instilling a lifelong love of sports and movement. How are trans girls a threat to that at all?
And you know Lia Thomas isn't anywhere near unbeatable: she gets beat very regularly. No one complains when men have unfair advantages vs. other men because they have extra testosterone or larger lungs, but women are punished for the same things even when they are cis: trying to keep trans women out of sports has only led to cis women like Caster Semenya being discriminated against.
You are falling for their straw man argument. It is a solution without any problems. We are creating national fear against a group of people because 10 women want to play mid-to-low-level college athletics. Stop it with the nonsense.
I testified against a trans sport ban in Ohio a few years ago, and I will say it again with my whole chest: stop using something I love, women's sports, as an excuse to bully teenagers trying to play games with their friends. The stakes could not be lower, and I am outraged at the NCAA here.
Thanks for this great piece Roger. GAHHHH.
My testimony, if anyone is struggling for how you can stand up for trans people in sports even if you are a cis person who doesn't work in sports: https://youtu.be/Y9dGpKI4gQ0
Respect to you for writing this piece. I think I’m basically with you on this issue at this point…I was willing to listen to the arguments about fairness, etc and I think they’re reasonable in many ways….but it’s become so clear that that just simply isn’t what it’s about anymore. None of them actually give a shit about women's sports, it’s just more red meat for the base and they don’t care about any potential real world harm. And you’re spot on about the real reason the NCAA is folding so quickly - all about the money, as always.
I care and I am outraged. Thank you for summarizing so eloquently all the reasons we should be appalled and holding the people responsible to account. This is simply cruel and stupid.
Don't worry; the NCAA will backtrack when this shitshow ends. The arrow always moves forward, there's temporary wins by bigots but they always lose in the end.
While the NCAA is an understandable target, the real decision maker isn't Charlie Baker. The member institutions that belong to and support the NCAA leadership are the appropriate targets. They call the shots. Period.
Baker is simply holding down the fort at the NCAA while he collects easy money to pad his retirement.
Whether institutions cite the risk of loss of federal funding (unrelated to athletics) or not, the presidents and trustees can't "risk" losing a dollar of support.
That money talks in college athletics is no surprise. They have "great" role models in university leadership.
“The way I see it, Republicans won slightly less than 50 percent of the vote in a deeply strange election where the major issue seems to have been inflation. (Which Trump is already clearly making worse, but, alas.) That doesn’t give them a mandate on anything, let alone killing our trans friends.
But even if Republicans did win in a landslide, and even if the #1 issue was persecuting trans people… that would be all the more reason to defend trans rights. The time to stand up for people being persecuted is when they’re being persecuted. That’s today.”
Exactly. Thanks for putting this so clearly
That was just an awesome piece of writing. Better yet your thoughts are what we should all aspire to. Keep it up. Love your work.
I agree with so much of this, particularly your well-made point that the executive order and NCAA policy aren’t really about fairness in women’s sports.
And yet, there clearly is some kernel that *is* about fairness in women’s sports - like enabling biological women to actually win a swim meet and not be multiple seconds behind Lia Thomas.
After all, women’s sports exist because we acknowledge that women do not have the height, strength, speed, etc to compete with men. If anyone can play on a women’s team, it does lessen the justification for having a separate women’s division.
The concept of an “open” division and a “women’s” division - while allowing trans women to practice and receive medical care with the women’s team - frankly seems like the a pretty thoughtful and fair outcome.
We should stand up against anti-trans bullying where we see it - including and especially all the BS coming from Trump and his team - but I genuinely don’t think this specific NCAA policy is where I’d be aiming my fire.
you know Lia Thomas lost a bunch of races, right? she competed in 4 national championship races and only won 1 of them. how is that possible if she has vastly superior athleticism? she was a non-scholarship ivy league athlete, of course she won ivy league races, anyone competitive enough to compete nationally will dominate in the ivy league. anyone who knows ball knows this.
Also women's sports don't exist because, "we acknowledge that women do not have the height, strength, speed, etc to compete with men" as you claim. Women's sports exist because men banned women from participating in athletics. Learn your history if you want to make claims like this.
The push for women's athletics was *never* about creating sex segregated sports, it was about integration and it failed.
This ban in mostly impacting high school and jr high athletics which are supposed to be about having fun with friends, learning how to navigate group dynamics, and instilling a lifelong love of sports and movement. How are trans girls a threat to that at all?
And you know Lia Thomas isn't anywhere near unbeatable: she gets beat very regularly. No one complains when men have unfair advantages vs. other men because they have extra testosterone or larger lungs, but women are punished for the same things even when they are cis: trying to keep trans women out of sports has only led to cis women like Caster Semenya being discriminated against.
You are falling for their straw man argument. It is a solution without any problems. We are creating national fear against a group of people because 10 women want to play mid-to-low-level college athletics. Stop it with the nonsense.
I testified against a trans sport ban in Ohio a few years ago, and I will say it again with my whole chest: stop using something I love, women's sports, as an excuse to bully teenagers trying to play games with their friends. The stakes could not be lower, and I am outraged at the NCAA here.
Thanks for this great piece Roger. GAHHHH.
My testimony, if anyone is struggling for how you can stand up for trans people in sports even if you are a cis person who doesn't work in sports: https://youtu.be/Y9dGpKI4gQ0
preach
This is excellent. Thanks for this great piece of writing.
Respect to you for writing this piece. I think I’m basically with you on this issue at this point…I was willing to listen to the arguments about fairness, etc and I think they’re reasonable in many ways….but it’s become so clear that that just simply isn’t what it’s about anymore. None of them actually give a shit about women's sports, it’s just more red meat for the base and they don’t care about any potential real world harm. And you’re spot on about the real reason the NCAA is folding so quickly - all about the money, as always.
I care and I am outraged. Thank you for summarizing so eloquently all the reasons we should be appalled and holding the people responsible to account. This is simply cruel and stupid.
Don't worry; the NCAA will backtrack when this shitshow ends. The arrow always moves forward, there's temporary wins by bigots but they always lose in the end.
Amen!
While the NCAA is an understandable target, the real decision maker isn't Charlie Baker. The member institutions that belong to and support the NCAA leadership are the appropriate targets. They call the shots. Period.
Baker is simply holding down the fort at the NCAA while he collects easy money to pad his retirement.
Whether institutions cite the risk of loss of federal funding (unrelated to athletics) or not, the presidents and trustees can't "risk" losing a dollar of support.
That money talks in college athletics is no surprise. They have "great" role models in university leadership.