Blog Post – When Boys Will Be Girls and Other Confusions
This week a biological girl who identifies as a boy won the Texas state wrestling championship. Her win at state made her undefeated (54-0) for the year. She was given two “byes” in previous rounds because girls refused to wrestle her. So . . . what’s the problem? The problem is that she has been taking the male hormone testosterone since October 2015, thus increasing her strength and body mass and giving her an unfair — drug-induced — advantage over the girls with which she competed.
She wanted to compete with the boys, but rules set by the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which regulates sports in Texas, does not permit biological females to wrestle boys. Just one year ago 95 percent of school superintendents in the state voted to amendment the UIL constitution regarding student athletes to say: “Gender shall be determined based on a student’s birth certificate. In cases where a student’s birth certificate is unavailable, other similar government documents used for the purpose of identification may be substituted.”
Moving up north to Alaska, in June of last year a biological male who identifies as a girl won that state’s girls’ track meet. The Alaska Schools Activity Association (ASAA) has no policy on transgender sports activity, leaving the matter to each individual school district. Students need not participate in any kind of hormonal transition process to participate in the sports activities of the opposite sex. Needless to say, parents and female students are upset that a biological male won the girls’ championship. This policy, by the way, reflects the Obama administration’s May 13, 2016 directive to schools re transgender students. The Obama policy was rescinded by President Trump’s administration last week, but a can of worms has been opened!
So, what’s the policy here in PA? On page 92, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association transgender policy is listed as follows: ” Where a student’s gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the Principal as to the student’s gender will be accepted by PIAA.” Sounds somewhat similar to Alaska’s non-policy.
Which state’s policy is right? The state of Texas should probably tweak its drug usage policy and not allow someone taking any drug to participate in sports – that would address the hormone-induced strength issue. Unfortunately, one issue with solely depending upon birth certificates is the efforts by transgender activists to get states to change their laws in regard to birth certificates. Some states already allow individuals who identify as the opposite sex to change their birth certificate to reflect their “preferred gender.” What about here in PA? Statute: 35 Penn. Stat. § 450.603 (2005) deals with that issue. According to Lambda Legal: “Although not specifically mentioned in the statute, the Division of Vital Records will reissue a birth certificate upon court order or submission of a letter from the treating physician stating that reassignment surgery has been performed.”
As a side note here: those who identify as transgender can now change the “gender designation” on their driver’s license — no surgery or hormone treatment is necessary, only the signature of a counselor confirming that this individual believes he or she is the opposite sex “and can reasonably be expected to continue as such for the foreseeable future.”
As schools are being forced to address this issue, who can they turn to for guidance? Unfortunately, those guiding schools on athletic policies have bought into the lie that “sex is assigned at birth” and a student can determine his or her own gender. This from the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS): ” It is important for policy-makers to understand that transgender girls (who were assigned a male gender at birth) are not boys. Their consistent and affirmed gender identity as girls is as deep-seated as the gender identity of non-transgender girls. The belief that transgender girls are not “real” girls is sometimes expressed as a concern that allowing transgender girls to compete on girls teams displaces opportunities for “real” girls to participate.”
Title IX is being used to allow students to participate in sports according to the gender which with they identify. However, Title IX was written in order to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex “under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The idea of ‘gender identity’ was not even thought of back in 1972 when this was signed into law! University of Massachusetts social justice education professor emerita Pat Griffin wrote the NFHS advisory on transgender students. She used statements such as
- “It is important for policy-makers to understand that transgender girls (who were assigned a male gender at birth) are not boys.”
- “School officials often see transgender students’ interest in participating in sports according to their affirmed gender identity as disruptive.”
- “[P]ractices such as requiring them to use locker rooms and bathrooms that correspond to their gender assigned at birth discourage participation.”
- “Some sports leaders and parents express concerns that allowing transgender girls [NOTE: high school boys] to participate on girls teams will pose a safety risk for non-transgender girls. This concern is based on an assumption that transgender girls are bigger, stronger and unable to exercise adequate body control resulting in an increased risk of injury to other participants.”
Click here to read Professor Griffin’s guidance in its entirety. Make sure to take note of the resources she listed at the end of her “guidance.” Remember as you read this that “transgender girls” are biological boys and “transgender boys” are biological girls!
As schools are forcibly thrust into the transgender debate and students are again used in yet another great social experiment, let’s pray that sanity will win out. But . . . is that possible in this politically correct world where homosexual and transgender activists and their allies have taken over all the major educational/psychological institutions?
Let’s pray also for the kids who have bought into the lie that they can be whatever sex they want to be. How many “transgender” kids and adults’ bodies, mutilated through so-called sex reassignment surgery, will it take for sanity to once again reign in America?
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