President Joe Biden’s administration wants a compromise on transgender athletic participation. Do not fall for it.
The Department of Education released
proposed regulations
surrounding transgender athletic participation last week. It would force schools to allow younger students, such as elementary schoolers, to participate in sports programs based on their perceived gender identity instead of biological sex. Meanwhile, it would allow other schools, especially high schools and colleges, to require students to compete on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex. The schools could do so for the sake of fairness and injury prevention.
BIDEN TAKES A SIDE IN THE CULTURE WARS WITH TRANSGENDER SPORTS PUSH
Although it is encouraging that the backlash to transgenderism has forced the Biden administration to attempt to compromise on this matter, it misses the point.
The problem with transgender elementary schoolers playing on girls’ sports teams has little to do with sports participation. The problem is there are self-identified transgender elementary schoolers, and the government recognizes this delusion as a reality.
Government policy should reflect the biological reality of
two genders
that people cannot change: male and female. It should not support the delusion that children who are young enough to believe in Santa Claus can choose their gender. Second-grade boys who identify as girls might not have an advantage over their female peers, but that’s not the point.
On a positive note, the Biden administration’s proposed rule change could help reduce instances of transgender dominance in high school and college, such as male track runners winning high school girls’ state championships in
Connecticut
and
Massachusetts
and a
male winning
an NCAA Division 1 swimming national championship last year. However, government affirmation is the bigger problem here.
Gender dysphoria and
body dysmorphia
are the two underlying mental health problems suffered by many people who identify as transgender. The government should not promote either of them. Environmental factors contribute to
both
problems
, so neither should be glorified or normalized. The attempted normalization of transgenderism has led to an increase in youth identifying as transgender. In Massachusetts, for example, the nonbinary public school student population has
more than tripled
in the past four years; it will likely increase next school year.
People suffering from these disorders deserve compassion, and the government should take the mental health of these people seriously. However, politicians should
pitch plans to improve mental health
, curbing feelings of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation that these people may feel, rather than supporting people living as someone they are not.
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Tom Joyce (
@TomJoyceSports
) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.
