Legislators in New Hampshire have introduced a bill aimed at leveling the playing field in competitive sports by disallowing biological men from facing off against biological women — regardless of gender identity.
Those in favor of the bill say this has been a long time coming, and it’s easy to see why.
It’s becoming an increasingly common scenario; teen girls train for sports and events for years, finally closing in on titles, records and most important of all, scholarships and funds for school. Before these girls can achieve their dreams, though, they are usurped by a newcomer — someone who was very recently not a girl or woman at all. These male competitors are transitioning to female, and winning stunning victories at events and trials.
According to the Washington Post, a recent New Hampshire bill has been proposed that would protect the integrity of the female sports records, competitions and even scholarships. The latest bill would prevent competitors who were born as male from competing against biological females. This was triggered in part by recent events that included male competitors who were losing against other men, then “transitioned” to female and won titles and events with their built-in biological advantage.
Donald Trump Junior weighed in on this ongoing controversy when he spoke about a recent “women’s” bout that featured a male competitor.
“This wasn’t just a man who wanted to run races in lanes next to women,” Trump Jr. said. “This was a man who was losing bouts to other men, so he decided he wanted to beat up women instead. He used his big hands to beat Brents into an early technical knockout. There is no universe in which that should be acceptable, nor is there anyone who can argue that it was a fair fight!”
It is important to note that many of the schools and organizations allowing males to compete as girls and women do so even if the male has not had surgical gender reassignment. In most cases, declaring that they identify as female for a year or possibly taking female hormones for a year is enough. The New Hampshire bill aims to maintain the fairness of the process for girls and women and prevent the onslaught of males into female competitions.
For some, the debate went past sports and into the topic of transitioning minor children from one gender to another. One parent referred to this process as child abuse.
“I am a commonsense mom and a woman, and I don’t have to put quote marks around it,” parent Victoria Galla said during a public hearing on House Bill 1251, according to the Union-Leader. “When I hear people put quote marks around it, that is insulting to me as a woman. If you are endorsing transgender kids, you are endorsing child abuse.”
Those supporting the bill pointed out that males have a distinct biological advantage that does not go away by declaring oneself to be female — or even by gender reassignment procedures. Years of testosterone, bigger muscle mass, and even larger hearts give these freshly minted women a competitive edge, according to proponents of the bill.
“My bill is about one thing: saving women’s sports,” Rep. Mark Pearson, the bill’s sponsor, said. “My bill is designed to protect hard-striving female athletes from possibly losing a place on a podium, setting records, or, possibly, college scholarships.”
A new bill in New Hampshire aims to prevent this from happening, and would save the dreams of girls across the state by preventing male competitors from entering competitions.
Not surprisingly, the new bill has seen immediate and loud backlash from opponents, who say it does not do enough for transgender rights.
