Student opinion: Unequal ‘Gaines’
The transgender movement has sent an absolute shockwave throughout the world. Being whatever gender you want has become commonplace in the U.S. Recently, it has spread to sports of both genders. In a world of people choosing which gender they wish to be, and sometimes even switching it up day by day, the topic has become more controversial in the sports world.
Before these recent trends, having a man play against women in a sport tended to draw laughter and jokes. But now, since it’s commonplace to encounter men playing as women as they transition into their new identity, the topic has developed more seriously.
University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was the first athlete to speak out about the ridiculousness of having transgender people compete in the opposite gender’s sports. But, the fact of the matter is, she’s absolutely right.
Gaines tied for fifth place with transgender woman Lia Thomas during the NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. NCAA awarded Thomas the trophy on stage, giving Gaines the sixth-place trophy to hold for photographs and promised to send Gaines her trophy later.
“It felt like belittlement; it felt like betrayal,” Gaines said about the incident.
Physically, men are stronger and more athletic than women. It’s just how it is. Psychology Today reported that “Men are physically stronger than women, who have, on average, less total muscle mass, both in absolute terms and relative to total body mass. The greater muscle mass of men is the result of testosterone-induced muscular hypertrophy. Men also have denser, stronger bones, tendons and ligaments.” Biology and common sense state that men are stronger.
An opposing belief might be that if transgender athletes stick with the hormone therapy, they would essentially be the same as a female. However, men who fully transition to women keep the same muscles, athleticism and physical strength they had before transitioning. Karolinska Institute tested the process of muscular change when a male transitions to female and found after a year of therapy, the only change was a 5% loss of muscle volume, which, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to sports. This means that no matter how far into transitioning, the male will still have a major competitive advantage in whichever sport he chooses.
Title IX was written to level the playing field in terms of opportunity for women to play sports and be able to complete for scholarships. Adding transgender people into the mix of those who want to play women’s sports takes away that opportunity from women.
Yet, the U.S. Department of Education has recently released a statement that says, “Preventing students from participating on a sports team consistent with their gender identity can stigmatize and isolate them, and those students may not be able to participate at all if the only other option is to participate on a team that does not align with their gender identity.”
The people who are pushing the movement aren’t thinking about how it could affect both women’s competition and the future of athletic competition.
This move only benefits one group of people, and that’s trans women. Everyone else ends up with the short end of the stick. The foundation of sports falls apart when trans women are allowed to compete with biological women. Genuine, female competition falls to the wayside, and politics are valued over what’s right.
Read is an opinion writer for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on Twitter