Two years ago, former President Donald Trump said: “We should not allow men to play in women’s sports.” Staying consistent with his position, last week, he called the push “ridiculous” and communicated that as president he would ban it.
What is happening today is absurd. Biological males are taking away opportunities from females. This violates the original intent of Title IX, which was designed to prevent “discriminating against individuals on the basis of sex in education programs or activities.”
As accurately explained by Jennifer C. Braceras and Kelsey Bolar, “When it comes to single-sex athletics and intimate private spaces such as locker rooms and dorm rooms, the new policy pits accommodations for transgender girls (who were born male) against the rights of biological females, the very group Title IX was passed to protect.”
Allowing biological males in girls’ and women’s sports is an issue of fairness, safety, and privacy. It must be stopped.
I am extremely proud of my colleagues at Independent Women’s Forum who are doing exceptional work exposing what is happening and fighting back against it on behalf of others. As just one example, Independent Women’s Law Center recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
As a former NCAA college athlete, I cannot imagine being put in the position of having to change clothes in a locker room in front of a biological male. Furthermore, I can’t imagine having had to compete on my college women’s team against a biological male.
Riley Gaines, a spokesperson for the Independent Women’s Forum, recalls: “I saw firsthand what happens when we don’t protect women’s sports.” Gaines was a 12-time All-American swimmer at the University of Kentucky. She was forced to compete against a biological male, William Thomas, who competed on the men’s team at the University of Pennsylvania for three prior seasons before moving to the women’s team under the name of Lia Thomas. Gaines and Thomas tied in the women’s 200 freestyle final at the NCAA championships, but Thomas was given the trophy.
Paula Scanlan, a legislative liaison at Independent Women’s Forum and Independent Women’s Voice, was on the swim team at the University of Pennsylvania when Thomas moved to the women’s team. Scanlan was forced to share a locker room with Thomas. The university administration and student body tried to silence her from speaking out against the attack on her privacy, safety, and fairness on the team.
Gaines, Scanlan, and a host of other women at Independent Women’s Forum, Independent Women’s Voice, and Independent Law Center are courageously taking a stand and relentlessly working to protect not just female sports but all of the girls and women who participate in them now and in the future.
Click HERE (starts at 18:40) to listen to Dr. Keri D. Ingraham’s interview on Victory News.