It shouldn’t need saying: men should not be competing in combat sports against women. But our societal toleration of transgender activists who put their ideology above science has apparently made it necessary.
On Friday, a biological man who identifies as a woman beat up a biological woman in a mixed martial arts fight. That biological man, 38-year-old Alana McLaughlin, served six years in the U.S. Army Special Forces. McLaughlin, who has only been training for a year, is not a skilled combat fighter (you can see that for yourself by watching highlights of the fight), but McLaughlin is a biological man, and even without skill that’s a considerable advantage.
French fighter Celine Provost had not fought in six years. According to the broadcasters, the promoters could not find an opponent for McLaughlin until Provost stepped up. And to make matters worse, Provost was obviously the more skilled of the two. But McLaughlin has all of the biological advantages that males have over females. McLaughlin won by submission in the second round.
This fight should have never happened. Combat Global, the American MMA outfit that organized the fight, should have never done so. The Florida State Boxing Commission should have never approved it, whether McLaughlin passed a hormone test or not. This is a disgrace for everyone involved.
Worse still, McLaughlin wants to follow in the footsteps of another biological man, Fallon Fox. You may remember Fox as the transgender MMA fighter denounced by the UFC’s Joe Rogan. Fox broke the orbital bone of female fighter Tamikka Brents, who had not been informed going into the fight that Fox was biologically male. Like McLaughlin, Fox was an unskilled fighter who got by based on the biological strength advantage of being a man fighting against women.
It does not matter what gender Fox or McLaughlin identifies as. There are two biological sexes, and McLaughlin is biologically male. Maybe that doesn’t matter in most aspects of life, but it certainly matters in combat sports.
This is not progress. This is not “acceptance” or compassion or tolerance. It’s grotesque. It is barbarism.
Combat sports sit right on the edge of our societal acceptance of violence to begin with. Cheating in combat sports, whether through performance-enhancing drugs, equipment alterations, or illegal in-fight actions, can have deadly consequences, both short-term and long-term. The separation of men from women in combat sports exists for the same reasons that weight classes do: for the sake of fairness and, more importantly, the safety of the fighters.
Just because McLaughlin identifies as a woman doesn’t mean biological reality ceases to exist. McLaughlin is a biological man who should not be stepping into any combat sports arena to fight a woman. Continuing to push a delusional fantasy is incredibly dangerous to the health of female fighters.
