The left pushes “transgender” athletes as conservatives defend Title IX and biological females. Meanwhile, governors battle legislatures over transgender issues, Utah’s governor vetoing a legislative ban on transgender athletes, a veto quickly overridden. Missing are the numbers.
Here are some numbers. Rather than tell you what to think, draw your own conclusions.
First, 3.4 million biological girls participate in high school sports. About 4.5 million biological boys do. While unequal, both numbers are higher after Title IX – which advanced girls’ sports.
At the college level, NCAA athletes include 222,920 biological females and 281,699 biological males. While biological males outnumber biological females, both are higher than pre-Title IX.
Second, sports are a good thing. Any athletic involvement produces health benefits, including mental health. This is especially so for girls, including a reduced tendency toward suicide.
While teen suicides are up, studies are enlightening. They indicate “for both males and females, sport participation protected against hopelessness and suicidality,” as “involvement in sport confers unique psychosocial benefits that protect adolescents against suicidality.”
While individual mental health conditions may require more than athletics, the logical inference is that higher participation in sports improves mental health and reduces suicides.
Third, “fairness” is vital to induce participation. A central ethic of sports is the “level playing field” in terms of age, rules, timekeeping, scorekeeping, officiation, and gender. Without the perception of fairness, the inducement to participate, compete, and achieve goes away.
One could argue life is unfair, so biological girls should compete against biological boys, revealing the “best athlete,” but society has so far concluded – in deference to physical differences – that fairness requires competing within your own biological gender.
This understanding is ancient, showing up in the 1900 Olympics when women first participated. They did not compete with men for obvious reasons – the likelihood of losing. Absent division by gender, female recruitment would have suffered.
Fourth, while a half-million NCAA athletes compete by biological gender, exactly 32 transgender athletes participate in NCAA sports – using a “non-biological gender.”
Fifth, America has 15.3 million high school students. Even with media hyping transgenders, those self-identifying as “not their biological gender” is objectively low. The highest estimate is 270,000 – based on sampling of a few urban schools, less than half a percent of total U.S. students. Other estimates make the number nebulous, perhaps one percent.
Absent hard numbers, the American Schools Statistics data show 358,000 high schoolers with an “emotional disturbance.” The study notes COVID restrictions, closures, and remote learning also exacerbated many mental conditions.
Finally, studies show a higher likelihood of “transgender” suicide attempts, roughly one in three, but the overall number of youths attempting or thinking about suicide also rose during COVID restrictions – especially among girls.
Where does the data lead? When a governor – like Utah’s Republican Governor Spenser Cox – says meeting with a transgender youth “changes your heart,” as “they are just trying to stay alive,” this is moving, but this is also not the whole story.
Teens struggling with any emotional, psychological, mental, or identity crisis are worthy of care, concern, and attention – regardless of their individual crisis. But that is just half the story.
The other half: When only 32 NCAA athletes “identify” as the opposite sex, and a minuscule percentage – perhaps one – of high school athletes do the same, what effect does empowering transgenders have on the quarter-million biological girls who identify as girls – and want fair competition in college?
What effect does favoring transgenders have on the 3.4 million high school biological girls, forced to compete against biological males? If depression, suicide risk, and other stresses count for one group, why not the other?
Simply put, if the number of biological girls affected is far higher, why not consider that fact in assuring the greatest fairness and mental health in sports for the greatest number? Some will argue this is utilitarian, and it is – but these girls, fairness for the biological girls, count too.
Again, every individual is worthy, but a small group facing an identity crisis around gender should not eclipse the majority of girls who compete as biological females. Is it not logical?
A male is a male, a female is a female, it matters not what they think they are. It only makes it worse f to allow them to make you play along with their thinking.
Biological males should not be playing in female sports or female playing in men’s sports unless the team’s are mixed. It seems Politicians are not listening to the people because they have their own agenda. Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him, male and female .He created them. Amen
This article is well-researched and well-written. Here are more facts: even with testosterone suppression and removal of testicles, a biologic male has more muscle mass, denser bones, larger heart and lungs( more capacity), and is faster and stronger. No biologic male ( transgender)should be allowed to compete against biologic females in sports programs, as it is unjust, discriminatory against females, and disregards Title IX policies of fairness and support for biologic female athletes ( in schools, colleges, NCAA, or Olympic venues).
They were not born that way and they should not be competing with girls
There is no such thing as ‘TransGender’. There are only deranged people and their support groups.
the fact that we a re discussing this insanity is beyond sane
But, isn’t it always the loudness of the wheel….not the numbers that get their way. It happened when God was taken from the schools. ONE WOMAN did that and we sat back and did nothing!!!!!
We deserved what is happening now, because of our ‘silent majority’ attitude, but it’s not to late to change that. Let’s do it!!!!
It is beyond absurd that this transgender thing has become an acceptable idea. I think huge swaths of our electorate are certifiably insane for accepting this nonsense as normal.
Follow the science, people. We are not “assigned” gender at birth, as the latest Consumer Reports product survey maintains. We are identified by physical characteristics, something that can be checked with a DNA profile. Yes, there are occasional exceptions, like a successful “female” actress we have seen, born male but with confused characteristics and surgically made female. But let’s not go along with the madness that has given us this athletic competition stupidity.
Many organizations equal the odds by giving the girls more points for less performance. Drag racers have done this for years, it’s called spotting. You simply use the fastest official time each competitor has and you spot them. That’s how it works in drag racing. And this seems to be the way it goes with race, ethic and maybe gender in the future. We don’t compete heads up in anything any more. The best, most qualified person may not win because they don’t meet the quota of the day. It’s been part of life for a while now but is becoming more and more visible. The winner will always meet the minimum qualifications for the position but they may not be anywhere near the best qualified – they don’t have to be anymore – you pick from the qualified quota of the day. Spot the girls according to their best times and everyone gets an equal chance.
Absolutely Logical! No one has ever suggested that Transgender Athletes should not compete in sports, but if they have ANY self-respect, or respect for the hard work of others, they will organize Transgender Teams and compete against one another. THAT would be fair, and would be far preferable to robbing biological girls of scholarships and awards that they have earned. Why does the Left think that 99% should be FORCED to suffer and sacrifice for the 1%? It’s the Epitome of Selfishness.
Absolutely agree! LGBTQ never wants equal rights, they always want something special. The smallest minority in the world wanting everyone to bow to any travesty they think up. Totally disgusting.
When you also think about that we haven’t heard of transgender females identifying as males participating in male sports…wonder why? Maybe cause they don’t have the biological male strength to compete?
My granddaughter is transgender (boy to girl) and I love her to death but at the same time she is an adult (22) and is intelligent enough to distinguish right and wrong and does well for herself. Studying arcitecture.
Boys are boys girls are girls, even science agrees. Follow the science. Unless you are a democrat, then you’re on your own and can morph into any creature applicable to your mania and we must accept it. Uh no.
A prime example is Lia Thomas. Ranked number one in women’s swimming. Competing as a male, Thomas was ranked 462nd! Talk about unfair! The whole reason for Title IX was to give females a more equal opportunity to win scholarships and titles. Transgenders are less than 1% of the population. Yet when men who identify as women compete, they blow biological females out of the water because they still have more muscle mass and bigger lungs than females. No hormone can change that.
32 transgender athletes compete! 32! This is about the size of a typical high school biology class. How many of these 32 (!) “athletes ” are biological females competing with males? Probably zero. Way to “leval the playing field”, lefties.
Thank you for posting the facts! We so seldom hear the truth or the real numbers. I’m so sick of this nonsense.
Solution…if a biological male competes against girls in an event…all the biological girls should refuse to compete? If they all did this the media and leftist woke people would be forced to give up the agenda in a month! Even if it it took longer those girls’ sacrifice would stop this in its tracks.