John Steigerwald: Transgender females belong in boys sports

Pick a side.

Do you want transgender females (biological males) to be allowed to compete against biological females in sports?

The fight has been overshadowed by a pandemic and massive demonstrations and rioting, but the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination “because of sex,” includes gay and transgender employees.

That also means that schools and athletic associations can’t discriminate against biological males who want to compete against biological females.

Just a few weeks ago the U.S. Department of Education ruled that Connecticut’s policy of allowing transgender girls to compete as girls in high school sports violates the civil rights of athletes who always have identified as females.

In other words, common sense.

In Connecticut, two biological males won multiple state track championships and broke multiple records in the process. Three girls who had to compete against them filed a lawsuit.

The U.S. Department of Education said if schools (or, in the case of Connecticut, state ruling bodies) insisted on allowing males to compete against females, they would be in violation of Title IX and lose federal funding.

The DOE’s ruling was considered a win for females who want to compete only against females, but the Supreme Court ruling was considered a win for people who think it makes sense for biological males to take roster positions away from women and to eliminate the level playing field in competition.

The DOE’s ruling was considered a win for women and girls in sports. The Supreme Court ruling was considered a win for transgenders.

On March 30, in Idaho, common sense prevailed when a state law called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act was passed.

Some transgender athletes filed a lawsuit, and last week the Trump Justice Department sided with Idaho. Attorney General William Barr said, “Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is unfair to female athletes.”

No one who knows anything about sports would disagree with that. The only reason to allow transgender women to compete with biological females would be to promote transgender acceptance.

That may be a worthy cause, but it doesn’t change the indisputable fact it is unfair to biological women and threatens the existence of women’s sports.

This has not received anything close to the attention it deserves from sports media, both national and local.

Especially with no games to cover. This should be the No.1 topic in sports radio. How many girls are competing in sports? How many parents have daughters who could find themselves forced to compete against boys or men?

Actually, they’re not forced. They can refuse to compete, which is exactly what they should do. Girls shouldn’t have to compete against boys, whether it’s in a game or for a roster spot.

Twenty-eight Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives released a letter last week condemning the Department of Education’s ruling in Connecticut.

Were any of them contacted by the national sports media?

Two Democratic Congressmen from Western Pennsylvania, Conor Lamb and Mike Doyle, voted, along with every other Democrat, for the Equality Act, which would force schools to allow biological males to compete against females.

I’ve tried multiple times to get them to comment on the issue with no luck. No response from Lamb and a no comment from Doyle. I was told by a member of Doyle’s staff that I was the only person from local media to ask for a comment.

Barr applied some common sense to the Idaho law: “This limitation (of certain athletic teams to biological females) is based on the same exact principle that allows the creation of sex-specific athletic teams in the first place — namely the goal of ensuring that biological females have equal athletic opportunities.”

Seriously.

If it makes no difference whether a participant is biologically male or female, why have separate teams?

A biological male who identifies as a woman has every right to do so, but that identification exists in his/her mind. The body he/she takes into competition is a male’s and creates a disadvantage that is obvious to anybody who knows anything about sports.

Politicians who support females competing against biological males should be called on to defend the idea.

Congressmen Lamb and Doyle, I’m still waiting for your response.