Alana McLaughlin, a man who identifies as a woman and now wants to fight women in mixed martial arts, claims that bills barring men from competing in women’s sports are being proposed for reasons other than to promote fairness.
Writing in the Guardian, McLaughlin claims these bills are “part of a broader effort to erase trans people from public life.” This particular claim stands out: “Under the guise of ‘safety’ and ‘fairness’ these politicians and the people they represent seek to deny trans children access to an incredibly important part of public life. Their arguments, however, deny scientific expertise and their intentions extend beyond supposed concern for women’s athletics.”
So what evidence does McLaughlin, a man who is seeking a career punching women in the face, show to support his claim that “scientific expertise” disproves the idea that this is about safety? Well, the same people advocating to keep men out of women’s sports due to the advantages of testosterone and the effects of male puberty also oppose “gender-affirming healthcare for transgender students.”
That’s right. You can either oppose letting men such as McLaughlin punch women in the face in combat sports, or you can oppose physically and chemically altering the bodies of children because they claim to be of the opposite gender, an irreversible process that roughly 80% of them will grow to regret. Opposing both means you don’t care about safety. Or something.
Incidentally, by making it a choice between those two options, McLaughlin is admitting that he does have a biological advantage against female athletes. That, of course, is clear to everyone who understands basic biology and has been supported by studies showing major gaps in strength and speed, as well as the advantages of testosterone on athletic performance. It’s clear to those who just watched how McLaughlin used brute strength to overwhelm a more skilled female opponent in his first career fight. But it’s something that activists typically refuse to admit, and McLaughlin is plainly stating it for everyone to see.
The fact is that Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas legislators, along with the other legislators and governors who have moved to protect the integrity of women’s sports and the safety of female athletes, are correct. The science is on their side, not McLaughlin’s, and no amount of dramatic claims about “erasing trans people from public life” will change that fact.
