According to media reports, House Bill 25 will soon be approved by the Texas legislature. Once signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, H.B. 25 would require public school students (K-12) to compete on the sport teams that correspond to the gender listed on their birth certificate at, or near, the time of birth. People born male would no longer be allowed to compete against girls in school sports. While I sympathize with the transgender community, I believe H.B. 25 simply reflects common sense. Frankly, “women” sports were separated from “men” sports because the male anatomical body is usually much stronger than a female’s body (more muscle mass, etc.), especially after puberty. People who argue otherwise are simply being disingenuous. It is blatantly unfair, and potentially dangerous, for biological males to compete against females in most contact sports (e.g. wrestling, boxing, football). Despite what some activists and the "woke" media assert, this legislation is not about hate or intolerance; this is about fairness and safety for female student athletes in school sports.
The Democratic Party, and most voters, rightfully support equality and fairness for all groups, especially historically marginalized groups such as transgender people. That said, supporting the transgender community cannot be allowed to extend into extreme positions that unfairly harms another group, such as female student athletes. To that end, the Democratic Party should not support athletes born male who want to compete against girls/females in contact sports. I believe mainstream Democrats, and most Texas voters, share this opinion.
NOTE: Some transgender advocates assert there is insufficient evidence that transgender females (born male) have a competitive advantage over girls/women in sports. To support their assertion, they reference a scientific review published back in 2016 (see link: Sport and Transgender People: A Systematic Review of the Literature Relating to Sport Participation and Competitive Sport Policies (nih.gov)). Since 2016, however, there has been more research on the subject and there is now a significant amount of data indicating that transgender females do retain a competitive advantage in sports, see links below:
For some relevant media reports and editorials, please click on the links below.
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