With several conservative states imposing common sense restrictions on the participation of males in women’s sports, it’s little surprise that the #woke Biden Administration wants to overrule them. From The New York Times:
School Sports Cannot ‘Categorically’ Ban Transgender Athletes, Under Biden Proposal
The proposed rules under Title IX would give schools flexibility for “fairness in competition” or for the possibility that participation could lead to injury.
By Sarah Mervosh and Remy Tumin | Thursday, April 6, 2023 | Updated 4:47 PM EDT
The Biden administration proposed a rule change on Thursday that would forbid schools from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes from teams that are consistent with their gender identities, but offered some flexibility for “fairness in competition” and other exceptions.
What does “fairness in competition” mean, and just who will be judging whether a particular local decision excluding the ‘transgendered’ from a particular women’s or girls’ sport for “fairness in competition” reasons can stand?
The proposed rule change would make “categorically” banning all transgender students from athletic teams that are consistent with their gender identities a violation of Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding.
But it would also allow K-12 schools and universities to limit the participation of transgender students when including them could undermine fairness or potentially lead to sports-related injuries.
“Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination,” Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education, said in a statement.
Also see: Deanna Fisher: Trans Violence Is Acceptable To The Left
In one sense, this proposed regulation recognizes that there really are physical differences between males and females, and that those physical differences make a difference in sports.
The Department of Education said the proposal was meant to offer “much needed clarity” about how public schools, as well as colleges and universities, should handle an issue that has led to intense and often vociferous debate, particularly when it comes to the question of women’s sports.
That “intense and often vociferous debate” has occurred where it should, among the public at large and our elected representatives.
Under the proposed rules, which must undergo a period of public comment, elementary school students would generally be able to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identity. But for older students, questions of fairness and physicality could come into play.
No one really cares if boys and girls play kickball together in elementary school, but puberty changes everything. It would be nice if we had a bit more common sense in our federal government when it comes to subjects like these.
Even in curling, men can throw rocks harder and (with greater body weight and muscle) brush the ice harder with their brooms which allows them greater control of distance and direction of the rocks compared to women. Therefore men and women compete separately for any levels above casual enjoyment. An exception is mixed doubles which is a category requiring one male and one female curler so that the competitive level remains balanced.
I expect that the actual number of competitive sports in which biological differences provide no competitive advantage/disadvantage is very, very small.