Dear American Progressive
I’d like to ask you a few questions about the Republican Party.
What if they’re right?
What if it is unfair to replace the female sporting category with a mixed-sex one?
We both know that the Republicans are being disingenuous and don’t really care about female athletes, but what if, like a broken clock that’s right twice a day, they happen to agree with major sporting bodies who have conducted extensive literature reviews like World Athletics,1 World Rugby,2 World Aquatics (FINA),3 and the International Cycling Union (UCI),4 and have both science and justice on their side of this issue?
What if they’re right?
What if they’re right in acknowledging the need for safe female spaces? You admit that some cis men are predatory creeps who go to great lengths to access vulnerable victims — that’s why pedophiles seek out organizations like the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts. So why is it so hard to believe that some predatory cis men might lie about their gender identity to gain access to vulnerable women and girls in order to commit sex crimes like flashing and voyeurism? Don’t you recognize the danger of making it legal for those predators to commit those heinous acts by granting them the right to access female changing rooms via self-declaration?
How does it make your side — the feminist side, the empathetic side, the educated and reasonable side — look if you’re so fixated on ideology and Red Team / Blue Team politics that you’re willing to risk denying reality and undermining the rights of females to fairness and safety for the sake of your pre-existing beliefs?
Do you really want the Republicans — the party that wants to undermine female bodily autonomy — to be the only political party that has genuine feminist policy proposals in their platform on these issues?
Is it really “giving them ammunition” to cede that there is a reasonable, respectful discussion to be had around sex-based rights for females?
Or does it give them more ammunition if they can demonstrate that the Democrats are hypocrites who claim to be feminist but are willing to endanger girls and subvert Title 9 to remove equal opportunities for more than half of the American population?
What would happen if you changed tack on this issue? What would happen if you protected a sporting category for female athletes of all gender identities?5 What would happen if you lobbied for accessible third spaces for gender-nonconforming people?
Would the Republicans really be in a more powerful position? Or would they actually lose a tool in their arsenal — one that polls incredibly well,6 and one that they’ve been successfully beating you over the head with?
And finally, if you’re in a political fight that you believe has the death of your democracy at stake, why would you risk giving your opponents one of the most powerful weapons — the truth?
“ELIGIBILITY REGULATIONS for TRANSGENDER ATHLETES.” World Athletics, 31 Mar. 2023, Archive accessed 15 Sept. 2023.
World Rugby. Transgender Guidelines. 2022, www.world.rugby/the-game/player-welfare/guidelines/transgender. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023. https://archive.ph/tT07M.
“FINA Announces New Policy on Gender Inclusion.” World Aquatics, 22 June 2022, www.worldaquatics.com/news/2649715/press-release-fina-announces-new-policy-on-gender-inclusion. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023. https://archive.ph/AnAxc.
“The UCI Adapts Its Rules on the Participation of Transgender Athletes in International Competitions.” Www.uci.org, International Cycling Union, 14 July 2023, www.uci.org/pressrelease/the-uci-adapts-its-rules-on-the-participation-of-transgender-athletes-in/6FnXDIzvzxtWFOvbOEnKbC. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023. https://archive.ph/eB7jx.
Sopelsa, Brooke, and Jo Yurcaba. “Transgender Soccer Star Quinn Makes History with Olympic Gold.” NBC News, 6 Aug. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/nbc-out-proud/transgender-soccer-star-quinn-makes-history-olympic-gold-rcna1623. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023. https://archive.ph/uN8mB.
69% of Americans say transgender athletes should only compete on sports teams that conform with their sex. Via: Inc, Gallup. “More Say Birth Gender Should Dictate Sports Participation.” Gallup.com, 12 June 2023, news.gallup.com/poll/507023/say-birth-gender-dictate-sports-participation.aspx. Accessed 15 Sept. 2023. https://archive.ph/8klbY.