MCENANY, MIMS And CAMPANA: Trans Athletes Are Turning The Dream Of Title IX Into A Nightmare
Ryann McEnany, Sam Mims and Alexandra Caro Campana on April 18, 2023
It is absolute madness that in 2023, one of the largest political debates in this country is whether to protect women’s sports — a battle our grandmothers fought and won more than 50 years ago when Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The Biden Administration’s most recent proposed changes to the Title IX rule, released last week, will open female sports to transgender athletes. Biological men will be allowed to compete in women’s sports at every level, in virtually all settings at lower grade-levels, depriving female athletes of the athletic opportunities Title IX was originally designed to advance.
There is no feeling like stepping on the track or into the stadium for your first-ever Division I (D1) college competition. It is the moment you have trained so hard for — the moment you dreamed of when applying to colleges and universities. Blood, sweat, and tears have gone into your training, and it all becomes worth it when you get to put on your college uniform and compete for your school.
As Division I athletes, we trained for hours each day, putting the normal college life aside to fight for a dream of being number one in the country. A dream that we worked towards for years before ever getting to college, a dream that was only made possible by Title IX, a dream that today is slipping away.
We must protect women’s sports because if we do not, women at every age and level of competition will be affected. Women’s scholarships will be at risk, and female records will be smashed at all levels by athletes benefitting from the competitive advantages of male DNA. Additionally, athletic opportunities Title IX made available to women will be seized by boys and men, and the safety of female athletes will be imperiled when they are forced to compete against larger and stronger biological males.
The NCAA already allows biological men to compete against biological women, and states are forcing young girls to compete against biological boys.
If the radical Left succeeds, it will be a heartbreaking loss for millions of women, crushing the hopes and dreams of many like us, who are not scared of hard work but are realistic.
Men and women are biologically different. On average and in general, biological men are bigger, stronger, and faster than biological women. Additionally, men are not only taller but have longer wingspans than women. In one study that looked at the evolution of the difference between men’s and women’s best performances, the mean gender gap identified between men and women for top performers in runners is 10.7%, while it is 17.5% for top performers in jumping and 8.9% for top performers in swimming. The study concluded that genetic sex is a major factor influencing best performances and world records.
Allowing biological men to compete against women is demoralizing, anti-woman, and physically threatening to the safety of women and girls. When athletes with male genitalia are allowed to use women’s changerooms, it affects the mood of the entire team by taking the focus off competition and comradery.
It takes grit and self-determination to compete as a Division I athlete. This radical gender ideology and the push for biological men in women’s sports disincentivize female athletes from mustering the self-motivation and hope required to compete to win.
The entire structure and integrity of women’s sports are destroyed when we deny science to adopt policies that are fundamentally anti-woman.
Furthermore, the radical Left’s work to reverse hard work to give women the same opportunities as men is profoundly unpopular. The majority of Americans believe that biological men should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Data shows 67% of registered voters believe biological males have an unfair advantage competing against biological females in women’s sports.
Those who struggle with gender dysphoria should be treated with compassion, dignity, and respect, but not at the cost of undermining the fairness and integrity of women’s sports. Reforms that would put biological females at a clear disadvantage go against the very intent of Title IX, a civil rights statute created to extend athletic opportunities to women.
That is why the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, introduced by Rep. Greg Steube (FL-17), is critically important.
Women deserve better, and these debates are a step backward. Hopefully, this week this righteous battle will be resolved in Congress, and women and girls will prevail by being protected and empowered to keep competing.
Ryann McEnany is the Digital Marketing and Brand Communications Strategist and Engagement Officer at the America First Policy Institute and is a former DI Athlete on the University of Florida Track Team.
Sam Mims is the Director of Digital Production and Data at the America First Policy Institute and is a former DI Athlete on the University of North Florida Beach Volleyball team.
Alexandra Caro Campana is the Director of the Center for 1776 at the America First Policy Institute and is a former DI Athlete on the Pepperdine University Track and Cross Country Teams.
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