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With the 2022 World Athletics Championships in full swing, the Associated Press has turned to “experts” to argue why restrictions on men competing in women’s sports are unnecessary and too restrictive when, in fact, the opposite is true.
The case that spawned the piece is that of Caster Semenya, a former women’s 800-meter track star who will instead be running in the women’s 5,000-meter race. This is because of the testosterone restrictions put in place by World Athletics for races between 400 meters and one mile. Semenya, who won two Olympic gold medals in the 800m, is not expected to medal in the 5,000m race.
Semenya’s case is not like that of Lia Thomas or Laurel Hubbard, two men who began identifying as women and competing in women’s sports. Semenya was born with the 46 XY disorder of sexual development, making her intersex. While she was raised as a girl and therefore naturally identifies as a woman, she is genetically male. It is an unfortunate situation but a necessary application of the rules, nonetheless.
Not so, according to AP and its experts. The outlet quotes just two of them. The first, University of Colorado Boulder professor and “sports governance expert” Roger Pielke Jr., says these restrictions are the result of a “moral panic” and that sports organizations are “just shadow boxing now.” The second, transgender woman and World Athletics adviser Joanna Harper, agrees with some of the restrictions but declares that FINA, the world governing body for swimming, set a bad precedent with its restrictions. “I don’t think it was necessary and I don’t think it was justified,” Harper said.
But the restrictions were justified and are necessary. Lia Thomas, a mediocre male swimmer, began identifying as a woman and defeating women across the country. The natural biological advantages men have over women are well-documented. It was absolutely necessary for FINA to restrict men who had undergone male puberty from competing against women. World Athletics should do the same.
Pielke’s comments, meanwhile, have it exactly backward. The “moral panic” over transgenderism has come from transgender activists and those who support them. They insist that biology is meaningless and that men must be able to compete against women and enter women’s spaces, no matter how unfair (or even dangerous) that is for women. FINA, World Athletics, and other governing bodies are reacting to the anti-science, anti-woman movement that would destroy the integrity of women’s sports.
These rules are in place to ensure that female athletes, many of whom have spent their entire lives perfecting their craft, have fair competitive opportunities to prove their greatness. It is unfortunate for Semenya, but these rules are necessary. While establishment media and their chosen “experts” continue to complain, they are thankfully losing this fight on the global stage.
