A UPenn male swimmer who identifies as a woman is currently competing in women’s swim meets across the country. As he does so, he continues to completely smash female records meet after meet. It comes as no surprise that this so-called woman, “Lia Thomas,” is crushing female set records: he competed collegiately in men’s swimming for three seasons. Even more, all of the records Thomas set as a female would not even be close to records had he continued to compete in men’s swimming.
The NCAA, in allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports, provides an unfair advantage to the women who worked hard to compete at the collegiate level. Two swimmers on the UPenn team have spoken out about the anger the women on the team feel as Thomas continues to shatter records, expressing that it has brought several of the women on the team to tears.
There are distinct, biological differences between males and females, and while the woke media will tell you that’s not PC, it is a proven, scientific fact. Because of this, Thomas has a clear, physical advantage that the biological women he is competing against simply cannot overcome. The NCAA should follow the science, not woke ideology when deciding if they will allow men to compete in women’s sports. Sen. Tommy Tuberville pointed out correctly, here in 1819 news, that allowing men to compete as women “will sideline many young women in competition and discourage even more from participating in the first place.”
Transgender activists are pushing this “equity” agenda to allow biological males who identify as female to compete in women’s sports, but this has the opposite intended effect: it has turned into an inequity agenda, as males in female sports have an unfair advantage and suppress female athletes’ ability to succeed.
Even the athlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner agrees, saying that it isn’t fair to biological women. Jenner is right: it’s entirely unfair for women in athletics who work hard to be the best in their sport. No matter how much work female athletes put in, they know they will still lose to the male who identifies as female. It even gets worse because now a USA Swimming official has quit over the issue of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, saying, “she can’t back a sport that allows ‘biological men’ to compete alongside women.”
My daughter grew up playing soccer. She and her teammates trained hard every week to be state champions. Denying her or her teammates the opportunity to succeed because the opposing team played with males identifying as females would have devastated the girls. We as parents would have been outraged. Do those on the left think of their daughters and sisters when advocating for biological males to play female sports? I’m not sure even they can explain their conundrum.
The NCAA needs to end this political wokeness and stand up for women. Female athletes deserve a fair environment of competition. Biological men cannot be allowed to compete in women’s sports, regardless of whether they identify as a woman or not. It’s about science and the distinct biological differences between sexes, not about feelings. Allowing men like Thomas to compete in women’s sports damages the integrity of women’s sports and, more than that, disregards and diminishes the hard work of young female athletes.
Dr. Chad Mathis is a former senior policy advisor at Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, entrepreneur, and a distinguished fellow at the Alabama Policy Institute. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
